Saab has announced the successful first flight of the first Brazilian Gripen E fighter aircraft.
According to the company in a statement:
“At 2.41 pm CET on August 26, the Gripen E aircraft took off on its maiden flight flown by Saab test pilot Richard Ljungberg. The aircraft operated from Saab´s airfield in Linköping, Sweden. The duration of the flight was 65 minutes and included test points to verify basic handling and flying qualities at different altitudes and speeds. The main purpose was to verify that the aircraft behavior was according to expectations.”
“This milestone is a testament to the great partnership between Sweden and Brazil. Less than five years since the contract was signed, the first Brazil Gripen has conducted her first flight,” says Håkan Buskhe, President and CEO of Saab.
This aircraft is the first Brazilian production aircraft and will be used in the joint test program as a test aircraft. The main differences compared to the previous test aircraft are that 39-6001 has a totally new cockpit layout, with a large Wide Area Display (WAD), two small Head Down Displays (sHDD) and a new Head Up Display (HUD).
Another major difference is an updated flight control system with updated control laws for Gripen E. It also includes modifications both in hardware and software.
“For me as a pilot it has been a great honour to fly the first Brazilian Gripen E aircraft as I know how much this means for the Brazilian Air Force and everyone at Saab and our Brazilian partners. The flight was smooth and the aircraft behaved just as we have seen in the rigs and simulators. This was also the first time we flew with the Wide Area Display in the cockpit, and I am happy to say that my expectations were confirmed,” says Saab test pilot Richard Ljungberg.
39-6001 will now join the test programme for further envelope expansion as well as testing of tactical system and sensors. 39-6001 will be designated F-39 in the Brazilian Air Force and will have the tail number 4100.
Click here for a video of the flight.
Fitted for water bombing…but not with!
I would have thought the Bolsonaro would have made sure they armed it with napalm…
Imagine the irony if it was Rafale being tested
A country the size of Sweden selling jets to a huge country like Brazil shows how great Sweden is. Shame mass immigrations messing it up.
Isn’t about a third of it British??
Yeah it sure is.
Lightweight Bargin basement .
???
I think it’s a little bit more than that Peter tattersall.
In response to a post I made earlier in another thread.
“Nigel Collins, not Harry Bulpit. Please, can admin fix the problem!
It’s interesting to note that the RBS 15 Mk4 air missiles can be launched from the JAS Gripen E as well as trucks. I still think this aircraft would be a perfect fit for the RAF if we sold off the earlier versions of Typhoon.
For air policing duties (Meteor already operational) and protecting our coastline (RBS 15 Mk4), it really is a no brainer given the cost of the aircraft and maintenance fees.
The EJ200 engine can also be fitted to the airframe, so with Typhoon and Gripen E, we would be in a very strong position until the arrival of Tempest sometime in the early ’30s while the 2 seater F variant offers the opportunity of an EW capability as well as controlling future drones.
Some potentially good news for the RN anyway!”
“the_marquis
I have a lot of time for the Gripen and it will be interesting to see the Gripen E and F come into service in the next couple of years. It appears to be an immensely capable aircraft that is both affordable to buy and maintain, with excellent avionics and weapons fit.
The MOD will not countenance the RAF acquiring a third fast jet type, as it is one of those commandments that has formed in the collective conscience that such a thing would be prohibitively expensive, and besides, we are £10bn short on our procurement plan for the next 10 years.
However, I saw the Gripen E/F as the perfect Harrier replacement for the RAF: lightweight strike fighter that was cheap to maintain and could be operated from austere airstrips, as well as having the ability to carry a wide variety of weapons.
These attributes also make it ideal for expeditionary warfare, especially to low to medium threat environments where the principal task would be close air support and ISTAR. Due to its low operating cost and rugged design, it would be preferable to deploy Gripen instead of more expensive aircraft such as Typhoon or F35 in these scenarios, and if a bunch of Taliban managed to sneak onto the airbase and blow up a couple of airframes, we won’t have lost $130m worth of aircraft and we’d hopefully also be able to buy replacements.
In a peer to peer or near peer to peer conflict, the Gripen would still find a use, operating near the frontline delivering close air support to troops and providing point defence against enemy CAS aircraft and helicopters, while Typhoon operates in the classic air defence role and F35 focuses on interdiction. Gripen F, if bought, could also be utilised in the SEAD role, supporting the F35s as the USN plans to do with the Growler. With integration of Meteor and an excellent AESA radar, Gripen would also be able to support Typhoon in the air defence role as well, where needed.
With the native integration of the RBS15 and having been designed and built with maritime operations in mind from the outset, Gripen would also be perfect to resurrect the RAF’s anti-shipping capability that effectively went with the Tornado GR1B. The RAF could activate a squadron up at Lossiemouth where 208 Sqdn used to be and where the P8s will be and operate in conjunction with the P8s against any maritime surface threat.
And, as for the business case, while it is a Swedish aircraft, it is comprised of a lot of British made equipment, meaning that any UK purchase would be a boost for the UK defence industry. We could even ask Saab for an industrial offset type arrangement and set up an assembly line here in the UK.
The low purchase and maintenance cost of the Gripen would also allow the RAF to affordably grow the number of aircraft in service, relieving pressure on Typhoon while maintaining the measured approach to F35 procurement that is favoured at present.
However, as I say, it would never happen as the MOD still has a complicated juggling act on its hands with a lot of procurement projects in the process of being delivered (Dreadnought, PoW, T26, Apache, Astute, Ajax etc to name the big ticket items, as well as new munitions such as Martlet), and burning questions regarding others (eg T31, potential Challenger 2 upgrade, Warrior life extension to name a few), personnel issues are looming large and the NAO keeps shouting about the procurement budget shortfall (although this would be fixed in an instant if CASD moved back to Treasury responsibility, and FCO and Home Office foot the bill for MI6 and MI5 respectively). There would also be a lot of push back from the RAF and the RN would both feel the acquisition of Gripen could jeopardise the F35 being fully realised in British service (and for the RAF, potentially even Typhoon, despite the idea being for the three types to be mutually supportive). Given the hostility to even a split buy F35A/B purchase, I can’t see there being any appetite to purchasing a third fast jet type at all.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjOZIm8tlDg
It’s a compact, affordable aircraft that manages to achieve an almost impossible goal of combining high end capability, with low costs of acquisition and ownership.
No mean feat….
You have to wonder what dodgy backroom deal has been done for Switzerland to drop Gripen E from their future fighter short list…
The Gripen E is an perfect fit for them, something stinks….
I was a Swiss tax payer, I would be asking questions!
Hardly back room! It was decided in a referendum, where all the best decisions get made….
Well there was that leaked Swiss Air Force report, then the referendum, which ended up more a protest vote from the Swiss people against defence spending rather than a criticism of the Gripen itself, then the re-run of the competition which was strictly focused on existing technology currently available and as a result disqualified the Gripen E, despite the fact deliveries of the Gripen E to the Swedish air force should start before the end of the year.
But I agree, the Gripen E is a perfect aircraft for countries like Switzerland that are unlikely to be getting into any major wars any time soon and just need something cheap and reliable with modern avionics to maintain a skillset. The fact they’ve made do with F5s for so long says a lot!