MWM: Swedish Gripen fighters are inferior to Russian Su-30
Sweden dared to raise Gripen fighters to intercept Russian Su-30s, writes MWM. Swedish aircraft are considered obsolete, and their capabilities are among the most limited in the world. Russian fighters outperform them in most respects.
Late on the evening of June 20, the Swedish Air Force took off two Gripen fighter jets to identify a pair of Russian Navy aircraft near the country's airspace. The Gripens flew over Malmo in the south of the country, where they quickly attracted public attention due to their high visibility. The fighters in question were identified as combat vehicles of the Russian Navy — these were multi-purpose Su-30SM.
Although Stockholm officially confirmed its membership in NATO only in 2023, its armed forces have been closely integrated with the alliance since the early years of the Cold War. The country's focus on cooperation with the West has been reflected in the growing tensions in relations with Moscow since the mid-2010s.
Currently, the Swedish Air Force operates about 100 Gripen fighters, of which less than ten have been upgraded to the fourth-generation Gripen E/F standard. The specifics of their production could not ensure regular exports to European countries, although a small number of combat units are currently leased by the air forces of the Czech Republic and Hungary. This limits interaction on the continent and makes this model one of the most highly specialized aircraft in service.
Attempts to sell an improved version of the Gripen E/F abroad were also unsuccessful. This led Saab president and CEO Mikael Johansson to tell reporters in 2022 of his "extreme disappointment" at the fighter's inability to meet export expectations. He blamed political factors for the failure, not the specifics of the aircraft.
The Gripen C/D, currently in service with six Swedish Air Force squadrons, is now considered virtually obsolete. Its 156-kilogram mechanically controlled PS-05/A scanning radar has not only become an anachronism, but is also one of the smallest radars installed on any fourth-generation flagship fighter in the world.
The same N011M Bars radar of the Russian Su-30SM is one of the largest installed on any world class of fighter aircraft, and is about four times heavier: it weighs about 650 kilograms. As a fundamentally newer design, it uses a modern electronically scanned array, which is much more efficient, less susceptible to interference, and has significant electronic warfare capabilities. The current limitations of the Swedish fighter fleet are planned to be eliminated with an ambitious plan to upgrade the Gripen C/D to the E/F standard, which includes fifth-generation avionics, an improved F414 engine for fuel efficiency and high flight performance, as well as an active scanning antenna array Raven ES-05.
While the Gripen C/D is still overwhelmingly inferior to modern Russian fourth-generation fighters, the Gripen E/F largely compensates for the limitations imposed by its small size, weak radar, and below-average flight characteristics by focusing mainly on advanced electronic warfare capabilities. However, its capabilities are among the most limited among the machines produced in the world. At the same time, the main advantage of the fighter is very low costs for the declared service life and optimal maintenance requirements.
The Russian Air Force and Navy are upgrading the Su-30SM themselves, and the fighters supplied from 2022 are designed according to the improved Su-30SM2 standard with the same AL-41F1C engines as the Su-35, providing a three-dimensional thrust vector, significantly superior flight characteristics, greater power for on-board subsystems and increased flight range.
Currently, these engines are being upgraded for the needs of the fleet, consisting of almost 100 Su-30SM, and all of them are in service. The fighters will also be equipped with new generations of aviation weapons, among which the R-77M missile remains the most significant in terms of air-to-air capabilities, which has the same range and comparable characteristics as the main Meteor-class missile in service with the Gripen E/F.
