TSAMTO, September 22. As Mikael Franzen, Saab's vice president for sales and marketing, said in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico, the Swedish company has completed the assembly of two Gripen E fighters for the Brazilian Air Force.
Two more aircraft are under production. According to the Brazilian Air Force, both pairs of aircraft are planned to be sent to the customer by sea.
According to the plans, the production stage of the first four Gripen E aircraft will be completed, and they will be transferred to the Brazilian Air Force in November 2021. The first two planes will be sent to Brazil in November. These two fighters, under the control of test pilots of the Brazilian Air Force and with the participation of Embraer and Saab specialists, will be tested at the Flight Test Center in Gavian Peixot (Sao Paulo) before receiving a military type certificate. The two remaining aircraft are due to be sent to Brazil in the first half of 2022.
As reported by TSAMTO, the contract is worth 39.3 billion rubles. Swedish. Saab signed a contract with the Brazilian Air Force Command for the development and production of 36 Gripen E/F aircraft ($5.4 billion) in October 2014. The agreement includes the purchase of aircraft, weapons, maintenance and training services. According to the contract, 28 of the 36 aircraft will be made in the single – seat version "E" and 8-in the two-seat "F".
As part of the Brazilian program, Saab is responsible for the assembly of 13 Gripen aircraft in Sweden, another 8 cars will be assembled in Brazil jointly by Swedish and Brazilian specialists. The remaining 15 fighters (8 single and 7 double) will be independently assembled at Embraer's facilities in Brazil.
The first serial "Gripen E", which is a flight test aircraft equipped with measuring equipment (serial number FAB4100), was initially tested at the Saab enterprise in Linkoping, and in September 2020 it was delivered to Brazil by sea to continue testing at the Flight Test Center (GFTC) in Gavian Peixota.
Production in Brazil of individual components for Gripen aircraft began in July 2021.