TSAMTO, November 10. Saab has announced that by the end of the year it will deliver the first four serial Gripen E fighter jets to the Brazilian Air Force and one to the Swedish Air Force.
As stated in the press release of the Swedish company, nine Gripen E fighters have been assembled to date. At the same time, about 30 of the 106 aircraft ordered in total (for the Air Forces of the two countries) are on the assembly line. As noted, the two-seat version of the Gripen F is still under development and will be assembled in Brazil.
Earlier, the Brazilian Air Force stated that the first two aircraft are planned to be sent to the customer by sea in November, and the other two - in early 2022. The first two aircraft under the control of test pilots of the Brazilian Air Force, Embraer and Saab, will take part in tests at the Flight Test Center in Gavian Peixot (Sao Paulo) before receiving a military type certificate.
As reported by TSAMTO, the contract is worth 39.3 billion. Swedish. Saab signed a crown ($5.4 billion) for the development and production of 36 Gripen E/F aircraft with the Brazilian Air Force Command in October 2014. The agreement includes the purchase of aircraft, weapons, maintenance and training services. As stated, 28 of the 36 aircraft will be made in the single-seat version "E" and 8 units - in the double version "F".
As part of the Brazilian program, Saab is responsible for the assembly of 13 Gripen aircraft in Sweden, another 8 units will be assembled in Brazil jointly by Swedish and Brazilian specialists. The remaining 15 fighters (8 single and 7 double) will be independently assembled by Embraer in Brazil.
The first Gripen E, which is a flight test aircraft equipped with measuring equipment (serial number FAB4100), was initially tested at the Saab facility in Linkoping, and in September 2020 it was delivered by sea to Brazil to continue testing at the Flight Test Center (GFTC) in Gavian Peixota.
Production in Brazil of components for Gripen aircraft began in July 2021. To date, more than 260 Brazilian engineers and technicians have been trained in Sweden (in general, as planned, more than 350 Brazilian specialists will be trained).
