JAS 39 Gripen Totally Explained

Everything about The Saab Jas 39 Gripen totally explained

The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (Swedish for "griffin") is a 4.5 generation fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. Gripen International acts as a prime contracting organisation and is responsible for marketing, selling and supporting the Gripen fighter around the world.
The aircraft is in service with the Swedish Air Force, the Czech Air Force, the Hungarian Air Force and the South African Air Force, and has been ordered by the Royal Thai Air Force. A total of 236 Gripens have been ordered as of 2008.

Development

By the late 1970s a replacement for Sweden's aging Saab 35 Drakens and Saab 37 Viggens was needed. A new fighter was being considered by 1979, with design studies beginning the following year.
   The Gripen was designed for performance, flexibility, effectiveness and survivability in air combat. The designation JAS stands for Jakt (Air-to-Air), Attack (Air-to-Surface), and Spaning (Reconnaissance), indicating that the Gripen is a multirole or swingrole fighter aircraft that can fulfill each mission type. The JAS 39 got its name Gripen through a public competition in 1982. The griffin is the heraldry on Saab's logo and suited the multirole characteristics of the aircraft. Furthermore, the griffin is the symbolic animal on the coat of arms of Östergötland, the province in which Saab AB is headquartered (Linköping).
   Sweden chose to develop the Gripen rather than purchase a variant of the F-16, F/A-18A/B, or the "F-5S" version of the Northrop F-20 Tigershark.
   The first Gripen was rolled out on 26 April 1987, marking Saab's fiftieth anniversary. The first prototype first flew on 9 December 1988.

Teaming agreements

In 1995, Saab Military Aircraft and British Aerospace or BAe (now BAE Systems) formed the joint venture company Saab-BAe Gripen AB, with the goal of adapting, manufacturing, marketing and supporting Gripen internationally. The deal was to take advantage of BAe's global marketing experience. BAe designed an improved wing, which they manufactured, producing approximately 45% of export airframes. BAe also saw the Gripen as a complementary product to its existing aircraft, fitting between its Hawk light attack/trainer and the larger Tornado and Typhoon fighters. This cooperation was extended in 2001 with the formation of Gripen International for the same purpose. In December 2004, Saab and BAE Systems agreed that from January 2005 Saab would take full responsibility for marketing of the Gripen in light of Saab's increased export marketing capabilities.
On 26 April 2007, Norway signed an agreement on a joint development programme of the aircraft regarding co-operation in advanced development work on future versions of the aircraft. The value of the deal, which will allow Norwegian companies to take part, is about NOK 150 million over two years.
In June 2007, Thales Norway A/S and Saab signed a contract concerning the development of communications systems for the Gripen fighter. This order for the Norwegian company is the first to be awarded under the provisions of the Letter of Agreement signed by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence and Gripen International in April 2007.

Gripen NG

A two-seat "New Technology Demonstrator" has been built, and was presented on 23 April 2008. It has increased fuel capacity, more powerful powerplant, higher payload, upgraded avionics and other improvements.
The new Gripen NG (Next Generation) will have many new parts and will be powered by the GE/Volvo Aero F414G, a development of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet's engine. The engine will have 20% more thrust at 98 kN (22,000 lb), enabling a supercruise speed of Mach 1.1 with air-to-air missiles.
Compared to the Gripen D, the Gripen NG's max takeoff weight has increased from 14,000 to 16,000 kg (30,900-35,300 lb) with an increase in empty weight of 200 kg (440 lb). Due to relocated main landing gear, the internal fuel capacity has increased by 40%, which will increase ferry range to 4,070 km (2,200 nmi). The new undercarriage configuration also allows for the addition of two heavy stores pylons to the fuselage. Its PS-05/A sensor adds a new active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna for flight testing beginning in mid-2009.

Cockpit

The cockpit has three full colour head down displays and digital emergency instrument presentation unique to the aircraft. The cockpit layout provides a human-machine interface that eases pilot workload substantially and increases situational awareness, but still provides substantial future growth potential. The pilot flies the aircraft by means of a centre stick and left hand throttles.
The cockpit provides a display area some 30 per cent larger than that available in most other fighters, with the multi-function displays taking up around 75 per cent of available space.
It is dominated by three large (15.7 x 21 cm) active-matrix, liquid crystal, multi-function displays and a wide angle (20 x 28 degree) head-up display (HUD). The displays are equipped with light sensors for computer assisted brightness and contrast control.

Expeditionary capabilities

One interesting feature is the Gripen's ability to land on public roads, which was part of Sweden's war defence strategy. The aircraft is unique in that it's designed to be able to operate also if the air force doesn't have air superiority.
   During the Cold war, the Swedish Armed Forces were preparing to defend against a possible invasion from a superpower. Even though the defensive strategy in principle called for an absolute defence of Swedish territory, military planners calculated that Swedish defence forces could eventually be overrun. For that reason, Sweden had military stores dispersed all over the country, in order to maintain the capacity of inflicting damage on the enemy even if military installations were lost.
   Accordingly, among the requirements from the Swedish Air Force was that the Gripen fighter should be able to land on public roads near military stores for quick maintenance, and take off again. As a result, the Gripen fighter can be refueled and re-armed in ten minutes by a five man mobile ground crew operating out of a truck, and then resume flying sorties.
   In the post-Cold War era, these dispersed operation capabilities have proved to be of great value for a different purpose. The Gripen fighter system is expeditionary in nature, and therefore well suited for peace-keeping missions worldwide, which has become the new main task of the Swedish Armed Forces.

Operational history

Current operators

The Gripen is in operational service with the Swedish Air Force, which has ordered 204 aircraft (including 28 two-seaters). The Czech Air Force and the Hungarian Air Force also operate the Gripen, and currently lease 14 Swedish Air Force aircraft each, with the option of eventually acquiring them. In both cases two of the aircraft are two-seaters. The Czech and the Hungarian Air Force are the first Gripen operators within NATO.
   Deliveries to the South African Air Force (26 aircraft, including nine two-seaters) commenced in April 2008, and is ongoing.
   Gripen has also been ordered by the Royal Thai Air Force (six aircraft, four of them two-seaters).
   The British based Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) is operating Gripen as its advanced fast jet platform for test pilots worldwide.

Potential and future operators

The Croatian Air Force has announced plans to replace their MiG-21 bis aircraft, possibly with either the JAS 39 Gripen or the F-16 Falcon. The long-term final projection calls for 24 aircraft. On 27 March 2008, the Swedish Defence Material Administration and Saab responded to Croatia's request for information regarding the procurement of twelve aircraft. The Croatian Air Force is expected to make a decision later in 2008.
The Romanian Air Force has announced that that'll replace their MiG-21 LanceR aircraft beginning in 2008, possibly with JAS 39 Gripen or Eurofighter Typhoon. India has shown interest in evaluating the Gripen for its tender for 126 multi-role combat aircraft. Gripen International handed over its proposal on 28 April 2008. The company is offering the Gripen IN, a version of the Gripen NG for India's tender. Other nations that are showing interest in the Gripen include Denmark, Norway, Slovakia and Brazil.
Denmark has signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Defence Ministers of Sweden and Denmark to evaluate the Gripen, pending Denmark's future replacement of their fleet of 48 F-16s. Denmark has also requested for the new variants of Gripens to be developed. It will include the package of new avionics, a larger and more powerful engine, larger payload and, most importantly, longer range. The next day the Norwegian Ministry of Defence issued a Request for Binding Information (RBI) to the Swedish Defence Material Administration, who responded on 28 April 2008.

Variants

JAS 39A: Fighter version that first entered service with the Swedish Air Force in 1996. A modification program has started and 31 of these will be upgraded to C/D standard. ;JAS 39B: Two-seat version of the A variant.

JAS 39C: NATO-compatible version of Gripen with extended capabilities in terms of armament, electronics, etc. This variant can also be refueled in flight. ;JAS 39D: Two-seat version of the C variant.

Gripen NG: Planned versions for 2010 and after.

Operators

Current operators

: Czech Air Force: 14 Gripens on lease, including two two-seaters. ;: Hungarian Air Force: 14 Gripens on a lease-and-buy arrangement, including two two-seaters (C/D versions). The final three aircraft were delivered in December 2007.

: South African Air Force: 26 aircraft ordered (down from 28), including nine two-seaters. The first delivery, a two-seater (SA01), took place on 7 April 2008. The acceptance certificate was officially signed on 30 April 2008. ;: Swedish Air Force: 204 aircraft originally ordered, including 28 two-seaters (138 in service). Sweden leases 28 of the aircraft, including four two-seaters, to the Czech and Hungarian Air Forces. Some aircraft are yet to be delivered. In 2007 the Swedish government decided that the future Swedish Air Force will deploy no more than 100 JAS 39C/D Gripen fighters. A program to upgrade 31 of the air force's JAS 39A/B fighters to JAS 39C/Ds was started.

: Empire Test Pilots' School: Under the current agreement, ETPS instructor pilots and students undergo simulator training with the Swedish Air Force, and go on to fly the two-seater Gripen at Saab in Linköping, in two training campaigns per year (spring and autumn). The agreement was renewed in 2008.

Orders

: The Royal Thai Air Force: Six aircraft, four of them two-seaters, have been ordered for delivery in 2011, with a potential additional six at a later date. The Gripens will replace the 12 F-5B/Es at Surat Thani Airbase.

Incidents

Five Gripens have crashed; one prototype, one production aircraft and three in service with the Swedish Air Force.
While this is by no means an unusually large number for a new, high-performance fighter aircraft (as a comparison, the Saab 37 Viggen's test series saw seven crashes), the public setting of the first two crashes initially gave Gripen a bad image as being unsafe. So far, the Gripen hasn't been involved in a fatal accident, and the incidents involving the aircraft have resulted in only a few minor injuries.

Specifications (JAS 39 Gripen A/B)

Further Information

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