LINKOPING, Sweden—The first flight of Saab’s twin-seat Gripen F has been pushed into 2025, following a change in the priorities of the Brazilian Air Force customer.
With Saab facing significant headwinds in large western markets, recent news indicates that the company has set its sights on smaller prospective deals elsewhere in the world.
RTAF has released a white paper on new procurement requirements, including fighter replacements, domestically produced munitions and anti-drone technology.
An ongoing software problem haunts Lockheed Martin’s production and modernization agenda for the F-35 as a raft of new competitors hit key milestones in 2024.
New-build deliveries of fighter aircraft are expected to eclipse 5,000 airframes globally, for a total value of nearly $460 billion USD. Lockheed Martin’s F-35 is expected to capture 34% of that total.
British Eurofighter Typhoons and Norwegian Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters have performed their first landings and takeoffs from road runways.
The Czech Republic has claimed that acquiring and operating Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be cheaper than operating Saab’s Gripen E.
The two countries declare such a transfer only would take place once the infrastructure at Ukrainian airfields is made suitable for the aircraft’s operation.
Sweden’s defense materiel agency FMV is awaiting political approval to begin studies into a new-generation combat aircraft beyond the new Saab Gripen E.