Saab held a Gripen E fighter presentation ceremony for Brazil, which is expected to be the sixth country to use the Swedish aircraft from 2021.
The first of 36 planes from the $4 billion order was completed weeks ago and made its maiden flight on August 26. It was this fighter (tail number 4100) that attended the event in Linköping this Tuesday with the presence of several authorities of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) as well as representatives of the companies involved in the project.
The aircraft, however, will remain at Saab in testing until late 2020 when it then moves to Brazil. In 2021, the first Gripen E production will be delivered to the FAB.
Of the 36 fighters, 15 will be manufactured in Brazil in partnership with Embraer at the Gavião Peixoto facility and will also be responsible for the two-seat F-variant whose first aircraft is scheduled for 2023.
In the agreement between the Brazilian government and the Swedish manufacturer, it was agreed that there would be technology transfer in the construction of the fighters, a detail recalled by Saab CEO Håkan Buskhe: “Together with the Brazilian industry, I am proud to be part of building a long term strategic partnership with Brazil and the Brazilian Air Force. With Gripen Brazil will have one of the most advanced fighters in the world and the technology transfer program will allow Brazil to develop, produce and maintain supersonic fighters. ”
In the Brazilian Air Force, Gripen received the F-39 designation and will replace the already retired Mirage 2000 on the air defense mission from Anapolis air base near the country’s capital, Brasilia.
Among the Gripen differentials are updated flight control system with updated control laws and the new cockpit layout, with a large wide area display (WAD), two small head down displays (sHDD) and a new head up display (HUD).
