Inaugural Flight of Gripen E
Brazilian’s Air Force (FAB) newest fighter aircraft completes its first flight successfully.
The Gripen E model is being developed in a collaboration between engineers from Saab and Embraer.
Around 3PM CET on August 26, the first Gripen E aircraft took off from Swedish soil flown by the test pilot Richard Ljungberg for 65 minutes to verify basic handling and flying qualities at different altitudes and speeds. The main difference between the new model and its previous ones is the cockpit layout, now with a large Wide Area Display (WAD), two small Head Down Displays (sHHD) and a new Head Up Display (HUD). Gripen also has an updated flight control system with modifications in both hardware and software. The Brazilian government has purchased 26 aircrafts and the first ones will be
delivered in 2021. The fighter will replace a whole range of aircraft in use today, from obsolete F-5 fighters to the AMX attack aircraft.
“For me as a pilot it has been a great honour to fly the first Brazilian Gripen E aircraft as I know how much this means for the Brazilian Air Force and everyone at Saab and our Brazilian partners. The flight was smooth and the aircraft behaved just as we have seen in the rigs and simulators. This was also
the first time we flew with the Wide Area Display in the cockpit, and I´m happy to say my expectations were confirmed,” says Saab test pilot Richard Ljungberg in a statement released on Saab’s website.
The new and unique cockpit panel was initially exclusive to the aircrafts built for Brazil but the Swedish Air Force has decided that its base model will also have the same type of control screen in the cockpit as the Brazilian one, which swaps three screens for one larger and more sensitive to touch developed by the company AEL, controlled by the Israeli Elbit. With this, AEL will become a supplier to the Swedish version of the aircraft as well.
DB has been working with AEL to qualify the WAD, Wide Area Display, a mission critical component.
Swedish Saab and Brazilian Embraer intend to use Brazil as the export base of Gripen and, when reaching the market, the aircraft will be advertised as a binational product. “This milestone is a testament to the great partnership between Sweden and Brazil. Less than five years since the contract was signed, the first Brazil Gripen has conducted her first flight,” says Håkan Buskhe, President and CEO of Saab.
The Gripen E can fly up to 2.460 km per hour and can cover three thousand kilometers. It might also be the last fighter aircraft Brazil has to purchase for their military aviation. The current contract also provides wide access to technical information, which can make the country capable of developing its
own high development aircrafts in a period of 10 years. Embraer, the Brazilian biggest aircraft company, was chosen for the joint assembly and receiving the bulk of technology transfer that FAB demanded. The first fleet of aircraft will be made in Sweden with the Brazilians as observers, the second with them operating the process assisted by the Swedes and, finally, 15 units will be made in Gavião Peixoto (SP) by Brazilians with Saab consulting.
