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Brazil is celebrating the rollout of Latin America’s first domestically-produced supersonic fighter, the Saab Gripen E, from Embraer’s industrial site in Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo. It marks the first of 15 single-seat jets to be assembled under a contract with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB).
The aircraft was built using components from a Brazilian and international supply chain, including aerostructure elements from Saab’s facility in São Bernardo do Campo. The final assembly line—inaugurated in May 2023—complements the adjacent Gripen Design and Development Network and the Gripen Flight Test Center.
Brazil selected the Gripen in late 2013, signing a contract the following year for 36 aircraft. This included 28 single-seat Gripen E and eight two-seat Gripen F units. Since 2020, eleven F-39Es have already been delivered from Saab’s main factory in Linköping, Sweden, and the fighter has been operating in Quick Reaction Alert missions from Brazil’s Anapolis Air Force Base since February.
According to the FAB, the technology transfer plan outlined in the initial contract is one of the largest ever carried out by Brazil, representing “the consolidation of industrial competencies that go beyond military use and boost national technological development.”
“Saab remains fully committed to expanding and deepening our presence in Brazil, strengthening the country industrially and technologically, and as an export hub to the world,” commented Saab president and CEO Micael Johansson.
Future export potential from the Brazilian factory could include November 2025’s agreement from neighboring Colombia, which placed an order for 15 Gripen E and two Gripen Fs. It has not yet been confirmed whether these will be produced in Brazil, Sweden, or both. Peru is also considering its future fighter orders.
As stated in the initial contract, “Brazilian industry will have an important role in the development of, and be responsible for, the production of the two-seat Gripen,” explained Saab. This was subsequently amended, with Saab’s factory in Linköping, Sweden, now responsible for the F variants. In May 2023, general production manager Mattias Olsson clarified that it “didn’t make sense” to optimize an in-country line for such comparatively small volumes. Brazil’s first F-39F is set to roll off the Linköping line later this year.