The Swedish manufacturer Saab presented this Tuesday (2) the first Gripen F, a version for two pilots of the (Brazilian Air Force).
The aircraft was developed over the last five years in cooperation with the participation of companies such as AEL and Akaer, and the FAB itself. “This could be a hindrance, but it was our biggest achievement. We work with 50% Swedish engineers and 50% from Embraer and others,” said Saab sales chief Mikael Franzén.
“We’re unveiling a new capability. This machine wouldn’t exist without our partners. It’s a great collaboration,” said Micael Johansson, . According to him, a second company research center in Brazil is in the plans.
The Gripen F was unveiled at the Saab factory in Linköping, in the interior of Sweden. Brazilian Defense Minister José Mucio was present alongside Pal Jonson. “It’s a win-win relationship,” said the Brazilian. “It’s a collaboration that goes beyond the relationship between customer and supplier”, said the Swede.
The Swedes trained more than 350 Brazilian engineers and technicians in the transfer process, most of them Embraer employees. The São Paulo company hosts the only single-site Gripen E production line outside the Nordic country.
From there manufactured in Brazil, in March. Initially, the two-seater model would also be produced in Gavião Peixoto (SP), but logistical and cost issues mean it will be assembled in .
Unlike the single-seat version, the Gripen F did not even exist as a prototype. As the FAB commander, Brigadier Marcelo Damasceno, recalled at the launch event, it was Brazil’s request for a two-seater model that gave birth to the plane — Stockholm only ordered the E type.
The job of putting an extra pilot on a fighter is not trivial. The plane was stretched by 66 cm, reaching 15.9 m, maintaining the 8.6 m wingspan of the E version. Weight was added by doubling the ejection seat, instruments and oxygen system.
To compensate, the F model lost the 27mm cannon and space for fuel, which will reduce its combat radius. Saab does not reveal what this loss was, but experts estimate something in the region of 10%.
“We dominated the structural part,” said Johan Segertoft, head of the Gripen unit at Saab. According to him, the biggest challenge was making the second post completely independent, free for operations.
Johansson stated, in turn, that the work with Brazil was “unique”. “It’s not something easy. We have it,” he said, citing the long-running Franco-German project for a sixth-generation fighter. Saab is seen in the market as a possible partner for Berlin if the program does not take off.
Of the 36 planes for the corrected equivalent of R$ 29.5 billion today, R$ 16.5 billion disbursed until March, 8 are model F. In Brazil, 11 Gripen E are already flying, 1 of them still serving the company’s test campaign.
The letters designate the new generation of the plane, which flew for the first time in the throes of the Cold War, in 1988. Since then, there have been the A/B and C/D families, the latter in operation with 96 fighters in Sweden and another 64 at five export customers.
Brazil was the first country to use E/F, which represents the biggest technological leap in the history of the advanced Swedish aerospace sector. It was also, with 20 units so far, Colombia, with 17 and Thailand, with 4. In Sweden, 3 of the 60 purchased by the government are already flying.
Johansson said that the Brazilian line should prioritize FAB and Colombian contracts, but did not exclude the possibility of supplying planes to other customers.
The Brazilian military wants a fleet of up to 50 fighters, but negotiations are slow, not least due to the scarcity of resources. The idea would be to make an amendment to the original contract, something debated within a combined purchase that did not materialize on the Brazilian side: the KC-390 transport from Embraer.
MODEL CAN CONTROL DRONES
Traditionally, two-seater models are used for training, with the second driver receiving instructions. This will be one of the Gripen F’s functions in the FAB, but not the most important.
The second pilot serves as a weapons handling officer in more complex combat situations, such as ground attacks, and mainly as a controller of what is the future of combat aviation: the use of drones.
or loyal partner in English, these robots are being developed to accompany fighters on missions, multiplying their attack and penetration capabilities in hostile environments.
“Gripen will in the future be the center of a multi-platform system,” said the head of Saab’s Advanced Programs unit, Peter Nilsson. (IA), as one would assume, follows this development.
Last year, the Swedish company was the first to carry out a flight controlled in part by AI in regular airspace.
The artificial agent Centaur, created in partnership with the German company Helsing, piloted a Gripen E on a BVR (beyond visual field) attack mission, when targets are only seen by sensors.
The pilot of that flight, Marcus Wandt, says that the simulations created maneuvers never seen before. “She [a IA] was creative”, he stated, highlighting that the entire process is done with the final say.
According to Saab, the technology will be available in Brazil and . The company says its go-live is the equivalent of a smartphone software update, reducing what took up to three years to a mere three weeks or less.
The journalist travels at the invitation of Saab
