Saab is close to celebrating the second foreign sale of the Gripen E/F fighter, after closing an agreement with Brazil 10 years ago. Thailand, which already operates the Gripen C/D, would have pointed to the new generation of the fighter jet as the chosen one in a dispute with the F-16, from the United States.
The choice of the Swedish jet was reportedly expressed by the Commander of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF), Air Marshal Punpakdee Pattanakul, on July 10.
Pattanakul would have forwarded the details of the Gripen E/F and F-16 Block 70 evaluations to the Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister of Thailand, according to the Bangkok Post.
Follow Air Data News: WhatsApp | Google News | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
The Air Force intends to replace 12 old F-16A/B fighters from a fleet estimated at 50 aircraft that have been in service for almost four decades.
Thailand also ordered 12 Gripen jets, but lost one in an accident.
The United States government not only offered the newest version of the F-16, but also loaned second-hand jets from the Air Force as they lacked resources for acquisition.
Defeated in countless competitions
The Gripen NG, which gave rise to the Gripen E/F fighter, was a program launched by Sweden at the beginning of the last decade, bringing several improvements to the aircraft such as AESA radar, a more powerful engine and new avionics and armaments.
However, the variant only won orders from Sweden and Brazil, a country that ordered 36 aircraft in 2014.
Since then, Saab has participated in several competitions without winning any. The Gripen E/F was offered to countries such as Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, India, Indonesia, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland, among others.
