The first Swedish Gripen E jet purchased by Brazil is soon to begin its flight tests; acquisition of the 36 aircraft included a technology transfer package
Nearly five years after signing the purchase contract for the next-generation Gripen Swedish fighters that will soon be joining the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) fleet, the first jet is ready to fly. It’s due to take off in August from the Saab AB runway in Linköping, Sweden, a city of 150,000 located 220 kilometers from the country’s capital, Stockholm, and begin its flight test campaign. This is the final stage before the planes are delivered, which is slated to begin in 2021. Until then, the fighter jets will be subjected to an exhaustive battery of trials, where all their systems and components will be put to the test.
The purchase of the military jets, named the Gripen E (single-seat model) and F (dual-seat model), was made official on October 24, 2014, after a process that began more than a decade earlier. The aircraft won the FX-2 Program competition, aimed at modernizing Brazilian fighter aviation, surpassing the Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet from the United States, and the French Dassault Rafale F3. The Swedish supersonic aircraft will immediately replace the Air Force’s outdated Mirage F-2000, which has already been deactivated, and in the medium to long term, will also replace its F-5M and A-1M fighter jets. The package of 36 (28 single-seat and 8 dual-seat) jets cost 39.3 billion Swedish kronor, currently equivalent to US$4.1 billion, or R$15.5 billion. The last of the jets are to be delivered to the FAB in 2024.
“The Gripen E/F is an excellent fourth generation fighter, has great performance, and is designed to be relatively inexpensive, easy to maintain, and responsive enough to combat any attacker,” says engineer Álvaro Martins Abdalla, a specialist in aircraft design at the University of São Paulo’s São Carlos School of Engineering (EESC-USP). The Saab jet, which was similar in performance to its competition, won out for two main reasons. The first was the value of the deal.
“In terms of operating cost and overall transaction value, the Gripen E/F was a wise choice. It’s one of the cheapest fighters on the market, with good radar and supersonic speed,” emphasizes Richard Aboulafia, an aviation industry analyst and vice president at Teal Group, a US consulting firm specializing in aerospace and defense. “However, I believe it would have made more sense to choose the F/A-18E/F if Brazil were looking for jets that also operated from Navy aircraft carriers, and not just to work for the Air Force.”
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| Jet destined for the Swedish Air Force, same as the model acquired by Brazil |
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| Saab employees assemble the first jet intended for the Brazilian Air Force |
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| Gripen E cockpit showing WAD (yellow cockpit screen) and HUD displays (projections in green on forward display) |
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| Pilot wears helmet that will feature HMD avionics |
Source:https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/en/the-new-brazilian-air-force-fighter-jet/
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