Aircraft
Gripen E Fighter Makes Progress On Home Front and In Brazil
Two-seat Gripen F warplane prepares for its first flight
By David Donald • Contributor - UK
July 20, 2024
With Brazil’s first air force squadron already gaining initial operating experience and Sweden well advanced in its plans to introduce the type next year, the Saab JAS 39E/Gripen E fighter program is rapidly gaining momentum as it closes in on full-service entry. The two-seat Gripen F model also is nearing its first flight.
At the same time, the Swedish aircraft—and its Gripen C/D predecessor—remain the subject of considerable interest in the export market, despite having lost to Lockheed Martin's F-35 in several competitions. Saab is pursuing the sale of four more Gripen Cs to Hungary and remains in talks concerning the supply of a second squadron, possibly of Gripen Es. Thailand, too, has expressed interest in taking more Gripens. Other opportunities have arisen in Austria, Colombia, India, and the Philippines.
While Saab continues to support and develop the C/D warplane—including technology drawn in from the Gripen E—the second-generation model has become the focus of development. The company has undertaken work rapidly thanks to the desegregated nature of the aircraft’s core architecture, which permits upgrades to the mission software without affecting flight-critical functions. That, in turn, negates the need for time-consuming requalification of the overall system following an update.
“We code in the morning and fly in the afternoon,” explained Johan Segertoft, head of the Gripen business. “In software, there are no generations, only speed.”
Software Changes Drive Rapid Upgrades
Highlighting the speed of development, Segertoft reported that Saab generates up to 10 system configurations every week with the current high work rate. Developers produced 12 iterations in eight weeks for the ground proximity warning system alone, and more than 800 such 'apps' hosted in the mission computers.
Of course, engineers can test developments and ideas in the system on the ground, but they still need validation in the air. However, the nature of flight testing has changed, according to Segertoft. “[In] flight tests it is now more of the production team that answers questions," he said. "We aim to fly an idea in four weeks. It’s better to fail early and we learn.”
Current Gripen E functions and capabilities are grouped into the Mission System 21 software load. As noted, though, engineers continually develop the software, but the 'MS' approach remains in use to identify major program goals and government funding procedures.
MS22 has undergone development for some time. While MS21 primarily gave the Gripen E an air defense capability, the new software will greatly expand the aircraft’s air-to-ground repertoire. Electronic warfare (EW) accounts for another area under enhancement to give the aircraft a wide-band electronic attack capability. Combined with capabilities such as the proposed MBDA Spear missile, EW will allow it to undertake defense suppression missions at long range and without the need for a dedicated platform
Developers have instituted one significant hardware change to the aircraft since its first flight in 2017, driven by an emerging requirement regarding the carriage of heavy external stores such as stand-off missiles. That prompted Saab to add considerable area to the wing trailing edges and move the canard foreplanes forward slightly as a balance.
Most of the test fleet now flies with the modification and it is fully incorporated into the production line. Another change involved the addition of strakes aft of the cockpit to optimize airflow into the cooling intake at the base of the fin.
The test fleet, including one aircraft in Brazil, has performed more than 2,000 sorties, and many of the main trials have been completed. Engineers recently completed hot and humid tests in Brazil.
Shortly to join the test fleet, the first Gripen F two-seater has just completed final assembly and fit-out in the factory at Linköping, including specialist instrumentation for its role as the two-seat testbed. The second also is well-advanced in the final assembly process.
The schedule has slipped to a later time than originally planned, due to a change of priority by the customer, Brazil, which revised the production plan to get its single-seaters into service as quickly as possible. The revised plan will also see all eight Gripen Fs on order built and assembled in Sweden, rather than in Brazil as originally planned.
Brazil Prepares to Produce Its Own Gripens
Saab's Linköping assembly line can produce up to 24 aircraft per year, but it holds the capacity to meet additional demand. The first aircraft from the Brazilian final assembly line at Gavião Peixoto remains in the works and is scheduled for delivery next year. Brazilian-made components have entered production and will feed into both assembly lines.
The Gripen E entered service with the Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB) and Flygvapnet (Swedish air force) in 2019 and received its military type certification in November 2022. By early June, the FAB had received seven aircraft—locally designated F-39E—for service with the “Jaguar” Squadron (1° GDA) of Ala (wing) 2 at Anápolis in Brazil. A second squadron within the wing, 1°/4° GAv “Pacau”, is scheduled to stand up later this month. The growing fleet is undergoing preparation for participation in its first major Latin American exercise, Cruzex 24. A single F-39E continues to fly in Brazil on test duties, operated by the joint Saab/Embraer test team.
Sweden plans to begin operations with the JAS 39E next year at the F7 wing at Såtenäs, where the country plans to base the training unit (as it is for the Gripen C/D). To prepare for its defense material administration (FMV) test and evaluation (T&E) unit at Malmen, on the opposite side of Linköping to Saab’s factory airfield, an integrated test fleet will concurrently conduct developmental and operational tests and evaluation.
The T&E unit received its first Gripen E in November and had taken three by the end of May. By the summer it expects to have five or six aircraft. It also has access to up to six JAS 39C/Ds that can serve a variety of sensor tests and as chase aircraft and radar targets. The numbers permit the simulation of most air defense scenarios, including four versus four combats.
While the FMV is primarily concerned with developmental testing, including that of the aircraft’s sensitive electronic warfare capabilities, the air force’s operational test team continues the evaluation of the aircraft’s combat potential and forging possible tactics for its employment. Combining both development T&E and operational T&E in a single unit maximizes the benefits of each sortie.
The combined unit also continues developing a training syllabus for the type’s forthcoming service entry. Conversion to the JAS 39E from the C/D for an experienced test pilot typically takes 10 sorties in the simulator and eight in the air, but that would require a few more for regular squadron pilots.
Sweden plans to buy 60 JAS 39E fighters and equip Gripen E squadrons at its three current C/D bases: F21 Luleå, F7 Såtenäs, and F17 Ronneby, but it also wants to bring fighter aviation back to F16 at Uppsala, which will also serve as the base for the air force’s new S 106 GlobalEye airborne early warning aircraft.
In response to growing tensions with Russia, Sweden has decided to keep several JAS 39C/Ds operational until at least 2035, and to upgrade them to maintain their relevance. The country uses a Block upgrade approach, with three more iterations likely beyond the current Block 2. That could include an electronically scanned radar based on the current PS-05/A mechanically scanned sensor. Saab also recognizes that other air arms might keep the Gripen C/D flying long after the Swedish aircraft have retired.
a FAB ainda vai precisar de mais Gripen E/F para dar conta da defesa aérea que ninguém lembra que existe.
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