Gripen E

Based on the proven model of the Gripen C/D platform, Gripen E or also known as Gripen E/F is an enhanced version that combines the advanced technology and operational effectiveness in order to continue to secure its spot as one of the most advanced multi-role fighter aircraft in the world that no other aircraft can hope to rival on. Driven by SAAB’s thinking at every stage of its development, Gripen E is designed to combine power, flexibility and efficiency in perfect harmony and SAAB have even termed Gripen E as The Smart Fighter in Gripen E’s fact sheet that be downloaded from SAAB’s official website. In this fact sheet, SAAB also claims that Gripen is more than just a fighter aircraft and it is a national asset that will be used to march towards sovereign independence and to empower the nation for a more secure future. The delivery of Gripen E is scheduled to be in 2018 and the introduction of this version will replace all of the other Swiss Air Force’s Northrop F-5E/F Tiger fleet of fighter aircraft.

According to SAAB, Gripen E is going to be a fully NATO-interoperable true multi-role fighter with amazing availability and it is designed to be used in Network Centric Warfare in the future by utilizing on its unrivalled multi-role capability and outstanding tactical flexibility, SAAB also claims that Gripen E will be able to meet the most demanding requirements of Air Forces in the 21st century.

Gripen E offers operational dominance from superior mission survivability to superiority on air-to-air combat situations by meeting strict requirements in flight safety, agility, availability, training and life cycle cost while it is also equipped with METEOR, AMRAAM, IRIS-T, the capability to launch AIM-9 missiles and Supercruise feature for mission survivability. In addition, latest generation precision weapons, targeting sensors such as Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, Infrared Search and Track (IRST) passive sensor, HMD cutting-edge avionics, world class cockpit and next generation data processing are also added into the fighter aircraft to be superior in air-to-air combat situations.

With the capabilities of Network Centric Warfare (NCW) that involves the use of advanced data communications, satellite communications, dual data links and video links, the Gripen E is capable to destroy a wide range of its targets regardless if it is during the night or poor weather conditions with the help of on-board sensors such the combination of HMD/NVG, Helmet Mounted Display and Night Vision Google.

It is said that a fighter mission can be likened to a game of chess where the fighter needs to develop the awareness in the right situation in order to communicate the right information to make the best move. In this case, the fighter needs information, movements and weapons to do so. Fortunately, Gripen E is designed to be equipped with the latest available technologies to excel in those key areas. As the Gripen E has high weapon flexibility that is partially thanks to its flexible avionic architecture, almost any type of weapons can be equipped to the fighter aircraft and because of this, Gripen E also serves as the main test platform for METEOR, the latest air to air missile for long range.

Technical Details

Role: Multirole Fighter

National Origin: Sweden

Manufacturer: SAAB

Length: 15.2 metres or 49.8 feet

Width: 8.6 metres or 28.21 feet

Empty Weight: 8000 kg or 17636 pounds

Maximum Take Off Weight: 16500 kg or 36376 pounds

Max Thrust: 98 kN

Top Speed:

• Mach 2 Class at high altitude
• More than 1400km/h at sea level

Max Altitude: More than 52,500 feet

Guns: A Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon

Other Weapons: Air-to-air missiles such as METEOR, air-to-surface missiles, bombs and Litening pods, Reccelite pods, Digital Joint Reconnaissance Pod (DJRP) pods and Modular Reconnaissance Pod System (MRS) pods