The second Saab Gripen E test aircraft, designated 39-9, took off from Linköping on its maiden flight at 09.50hrs today, November 26.
SAAB Gripen : Updates and Discussions
- Thread starter Ashwin
- Start date
The second Saab Gripen E test aircraft, designated 39-9, took off from Linköping on its maiden flight at 09.50hrs today, November 26.
Understanding the load difference between a medium class / swing role (ability to switch from A2G missions, to A2A missions, without the need to re-arm) Gripen E and a light class / multi role (ability to perform A2G or A2A missions, after re-arming) Gripen C in CAP or CAS missions.
=> 2 x Gripen C = 1 × Gripen E
=> 2 x Gripen C = 1 × Gripen E
It seems that the Brazilians will have to wait longer than expected for the Gripens:
Gripen E testing ahead of schedule, vendor claims
Last edited:
The rule that implies that essential flight components are separated from mission systems was already applied on the Mirage 2000 and SAAB makes tons of them with that!
This was one of the rules recommended by Dassault to SAAB when SAAB had problems developing its electric flight controls.
The rule that implies that essential flight components are separated from mission systems was already applied on the Mirage 2000 and SAAB makes tons of them with that!
This was one of the rules recommended by Dassault to SAAB when SAAB had problems developing its electric flight controls.
The LCA is also the same. The flight control system is separate from the mission computer. So we also took that path in the 80s.
Saab to test electronic attack jammer pod on Gripen
Saab will later this year conduct a first test flight of a Gripen C/D carrying a pod-housed electronic attack jammer, as it eyes potential sales opportunities with European air forces.
A product of the Swedish company's Arexis family of electronic warfare equipment, the low-band jammer is contained within a demonstrator pod that is 4m (13.1ft) long and weighs 350kg (770lb).
Saab
Development work and ground testing has been conducted at Saab's Stockholm facilities, along with trial installation beneath a Gripen airframe's outer wing pylon. Wing-like surfaces will be used to contain its low-frequency antennae.
"Our focus at the moment is to do the escort jammer – a pod to go on a few aircraft to accompany a strike package," says Petter Bedoire, Saab's head of electronic warfare marketing and sales. Currently, such duties must be performed by the US Navy's Boeing EA-18G Growler fleet, he notes.
A deployable stand-in jammer version is also being developed, which Bedoire describes as "like an annoying fly", based on its ability to generate a false target to confuse enemy air defence systems.
The Arexis range adapts equipment installed on Saab's developmental Gripen E. Bedoire describes the new-generation type's suite of sensors – which has already undergone extensive airborne testing – as "by far the most advanced electronic warfare system ever installed in a fighter". So-called quadrant receiver and transmitter systems housed within the aircraft's wing-tip pylons can provide a "spotlight jammer" capability, he notes.
While initial flight testing will be conducted on board an older Gripen, Saab is also promoting the Arexis range for possible integration on other aircraft types, potentially including the Eurofighter. Germany has a Lubis requirement to acquire a new jammer capability, and Bedoire says some installation study work has already been conducted to assess the potential use of the Swedish company's equipment with Eurofighter or the Panavia Tornado.
Saab plans to conduct a series of customer demonstrations with the equipment, Bedoire says, while noting: “Within NATO there's a surge in interest in this capability."
Rivals including Elettronica and Thales are also developing similar equipment, but Bedoire says that excluding US-owned assets, "there is no military-qualified capability in NATO today". Saab believes it could deliver an operational system within 12 months of securing a launch order, he adds.
Saab will later this year conduct a first test flight of a Gripen C/D carrying a pod-housed electronic attack jammer, as it eyes potential sales opportunities with European air forces.
A product of the Swedish company's Arexis family of electronic warfare equipment, the low-band jammer is contained within a demonstrator pod that is 4m (13.1ft) long and weighs 350kg (770lb).
Saab
Development work and ground testing has been conducted at Saab's Stockholm facilities, along with trial installation beneath a Gripen airframe's outer wing pylon. Wing-like surfaces will be used to contain its low-frequency antennae.
"Our focus at the moment is to do the escort jammer – a pod to go on a few aircraft to accompany a strike package," says Petter Bedoire, Saab's head of electronic warfare marketing and sales. Currently, such duties must be performed by the US Navy's Boeing EA-18G Growler fleet, he notes.
A deployable stand-in jammer version is also being developed, which Bedoire describes as "like an annoying fly", based on its ability to generate a false target to confuse enemy air defence systems.
The Arexis range adapts equipment installed on Saab's developmental Gripen E. Bedoire describes the new-generation type's suite of sensors – which has already undergone extensive airborne testing – as "by far the most advanced electronic warfare system ever installed in a fighter". So-called quadrant receiver and transmitter systems housed within the aircraft's wing-tip pylons can provide a "spotlight jammer" capability, he notes.
While initial flight testing will be conducted on board an older Gripen, Saab is also promoting the Arexis range for possible integration on other aircraft types, potentially including the Eurofighter. Germany has a Lubis requirement to acquire a new jammer capability, and Bedoire says some installation study work has already been conducted to assess the potential use of the Swedish company's equipment with Eurofighter or the Panavia Tornado.
Saab plans to conduct a series of customer demonstrations with the equipment, Bedoire says, while noting: “Within NATO there's a surge in interest in this capability."
Rivals including Elettronica and Thales are also developing similar equipment, but Bedoire says that excluding US-owned assets, "there is no military-qualified capability in NATO today". Saab believes it could deliver an operational system within 12 months of securing a launch order, he adds.
PICTURE: Saab flies third Gripen E test aircraft
Saab has conducted the debut flight of its third test example of the Gripen E, with aircraft 39-10 completing a 57min sortie from its Linkoping site on 10 June.
Lasse Hejdenberg/Saab
Flown by Saab experimental test pilot Jakob Hogberg, the single-engined fighter follows two previous examples, which began flight testing in June 2017 and November 2018, respectively.
A so-called Gripen Demo airframe is also due to resume flights in the near future in support of the E-model programme, having recently received updates, including the installation of a new wide area display in the rear cockpit.
Speaking late last month, Eddy de la Motte, Saab’s head of business unit Gripen E/F, said the company aims to have eight of the new-generation aircraft flying before the end of this year, including four production examples that are now in final assembly in Linkoping.
Launch customer the Swedish air force will receive 60 Gripen Es, with the first export customer, Brazil, to field a 36-strong fleet comprising 28 single-seat examples and eight two-seat F-model aircraft.
Saab has conducted the debut flight of its third test example of the Gripen E, with aircraft 39-10 completing a 57min sortie from its Linkoping site on 10 June.
Lasse Hejdenberg/Saab
Flown by Saab experimental test pilot Jakob Hogberg, the single-engined fighter follows two previous examples, which began flight testing in June 2017 and November 2018, respectively.
A so-called Gripen Demo airframe is also due to resume flights in the near future in support of the E-model programme, having recently received updates, including the installation of a new wide area display in the rear cockpit.
Speaking late last month, Eddy de la Motte, Saab’s head of business unit Gripen E/F, said the company aims to have eight of the new-generation aircraft flying before the end of this year, including four production examples that are now in final assembly in Linkoping.
Launch customer the Swedish air force will receive 60 Gripen Es, with the first export customer, Brazil, to field a 36-strong fleet comprising 28 single-seat examples and eight two-seat F-model aircraft.
Gripen E flight slips into 2017 as Saab puts software first
24 NOVEMBER, 2016 SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM BY: CRAIG HOYLE LONDON
Saab has opted to delay the first flight schedule for its Gripen E by up to six months to meet self-imposed software qualification requirements, but says the fighter remains on schedule for delivery to the Swedish and Brazilian air forces from 2019.
Speaking in London on 23 November – six months after the roll-out of its first Gripen E test aircraft, 39-8, Saab Aeronautics’ head of operations, Lars Ydreskog, revealed: “The first flight window will be in quarter two of 2017.” The company had previously expected to fly the new model before the end of this year.
Ydreskog says Saab has chosen to fully qualify its distributed integrated modular avionics (DIMA) design to commercial standards prior to first flight, with the activity to be validated by Sweden’s Flygi military aviation authority.
“This is not a customer or authority requirement – it is a business decision we have taken. We are confident it will benefit our customers with a stable and robust fighter from day one,” Ydreskog says. “We will gain by doing it early – it will take away any question marks of the stability and robustness of the software and the systems.” Some 98% of the qualified software will be reusable, he adds.
Likened to a smartphone app, DIMA will enable Saab to swiftly develop and integrate new functions on the Gripen E without touching the jet’s flight critical software. The company has already proven that it can develop software, test it in the simulator and fly it the next day, says Ydreskog. More than 500h of rig testing and flights using Saab’s 39-7 Gripen demonstrator have beaten expectations for stability, he adds.
Saab achieved the power-on milestone with aircraft 39-8 on 27 August and performed its first GE Aviation F414 engine ground runs in late October. There have been “almost no faults found”, and high-speed taxi testing is poised to occur at its Linköping site in Sweden “very soon”, Ydreskog says.
Saab “Gripen E is on track for first customer delivery in 2019 and to achieve initial operational capability with the required functionality,” Ydreskog says. The programme’s three other Gripen E test aircraft are already in the final stages of manufacturing, including one for Brazil.
Meanwhile, Saab and Embraer on 22 November opened a Gripen design and development network facility at the latter’s Gavião Peixoto site.
Around 20 of the 100 Embraer engineers to have received training in Linköping so far recently returned to Brazil, and the new facility is “full of activity”, says Saab Aeronautics’ head of Gripen, Jerker Ahlqvist.
To be used during the development of the Gripen E for the Brazilian air force – including new weapons integration and the completion of a two-seat F-model – the facility is “evidence that we are fulfilling our commitment when it comes to industrial collaboration”, says Ahlqvist. “It also gives us an extended development capability. We are now able to conduct parallel development on two sides of the world.”
Embraer would also be involved in delivering the Gripen E/F to Colombia if the type is selected to meet Bogotá’s future fighter needs, Saab confirms. Its current orderbook for the type stands at 60 single-seat examples for Sweden and 36 for Brazil.
Gripen E flight slips into 2017 as Saab puts software first
24 NOVEMBER, 2016 SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM BY: CRAIG HOYLE LONDON
Saab has opted to delay the first flight schedule for its Gripen E by up to six months to meet self-imposed software qualification requirements, but says the fighter remains on schedule for delivery to the Swedish and Brazilian air forces from 2019.
Speaking in London on 23 November – six months after the roll-out of its first Gripen E test aircraft, 39-8, Saab Aeronautics’ head of operations, Lars Ydreskog, revealed: “The first flight window will be in quarter two of 2017.” The company had previously expected to fly the new model before the end of this year.
Ydreskog says Saab has chosen to fully qualify its distributed integrated modular avionics (DIMA) design to commercial standards prior to first flight, with the activity to be validated by Sweden’s Flygi military aviation authority.
“This is not a customer or authority requirement – it is a business decision we have taken. We are confident it will benefit our customers with a stable and robust fighter from day one,” Ydreskog says. “We will gain by doing it early – it will take away any question marks of the stability and robustness of the software and the systems.” Some 98% of the qualified software will be reusable, he adds.
Likened to a smartphone app, DIMA will enable Saab to swiftly develop and integrate new functions on the Gripen E without touching the jet’s flight critical software. The company has already proven that it can develop software, test it in the simulator and fly it the next day, says Ydreskog. More than 500h of rig testing and flights using Saab’s 39-7 Gripen demonstrator have beaten expectations for stability, he adds.
Saab achieved the power-on milestone with aircraft 39-8 on 27 August and performed its first GE Aviation F414 engine ground runs in late October. There have been “almost no faults found”, and high-speed taxi testing is poised to occur at its Linköping site in Sweden “very soon”, Ydreskog says.
Meanwhile, Saab and Embraer on 22 November opened a Gripen design and development network facility at the latter’s Gavião Peixoto site.
Around 20 of the 100 Embraer engineers to have received training in Linköping so far recently returned to Brazil, and the new facility is “full of activity”, says Saab Aeronautics’ head of Gripen, Jerker Ahlqvist.
To be used during the development of the Gripen E for the Brazilian air force – including new weapons integration and the completion of a two-seat F-model – the facility is “evidence that we are fulfilling our commitment when it comes to industrial collaboration”, says Ahlqvist. “It also gives us an extended development capability. We are now able to conduct parallel development on two sides of the world.”
Embraer would also be involved in delivering the Gripen E/F to Colombia if the type is selected to meet Bogotá’s future fighter needs, Saab confirms. Its current orderbook for the type stands at 60 single-seat examples for Sweden and 36 for Brazil.
Gripen E flight slips into 2017 as Saab puts software first
Article of November 2016, we can conclude that they are almost 18 months late....for the moment.
My estimate for Gripen time is 2X now it seems to be less: 18 months in 3 years, but in fact it's trompe l'oeil because they're not at the end.
If they continue on the same path, during the 18 months they have left they will be 9 months late and then 4.5 months etc.... at the end we will reach the 2X.
I'm quite surprised myself, I was thinking more of a joke than something serious.
My estimate for Gripen time is 2X now it seems to be less: 18 months in 3 years, but in fact it's trompe l'oeil because they're not at the end.
If they continue on the same path, during the 18 months they have left they will be 9 months late and then 4.5 months etc.... at the end we will reach the 2X.
I'm quite surprised myself, I was thinking more of a joke than something serious.
Last edited:
Given the generation of aircraft, it's more like 18 years.Article of November 2016, we can conclude that they are almost 18 months late....for the moment.
The only problem is that they are late… the Swiss reaction only shows the problem.
I think the Swiss deliberately timed the competition in order to kick Gripen out. We saw that they were not interested in it but were forced to adopt it because Gripen won the previous tender.