The Gripen gets a Brazilian (sale)!

Wait...  Maybe I phrased that wrong.
It looks like Saab has another customer.

Hot off of the Dassault Rafale being disqualified from its F-X2 fighter competition, Brazil has decided to declare Saab's Gripen as the winner.

With the Rafale gone, and the F-18E/F Super Hornet weighed down with the extra baggage of limited technology transfer and...  Uh...  American wiretapping,  The Gripen's victory isn't much of a surprise.

It's just a model...  For now.

Will this lead to development of the Sea Gripen?  Will the increased orders help secure the Gripen NG's development and help Saab lower costs even more?  Will this free up Saab's marketing department to start working on Canada next?

Let's hope so.

Comments

  1. Doug AllenDecember 18, 2013 at 9:30 PM

    Wow, this is great, I'm a big fan of the Gripen, it deserves its place among air forces of the world. This leads me to worry though, the last plane I really want to see in the RCAF is the Lightning. Given a choice, I would sooner see the Super in Canadian colours than the F-35. If we stick with an American supplier(politics) and the Super leaves production that will leave us with.........ug. This certainly makes the NG that much more viable. Up next, Denmark......

    ReplyDelete
  2. Doug AllenDecember 23, 2013 at 5:59 AM

    That's a big victory for Saab. Even though Gripen NG was almost never considered the frontrunner, it turns out it was better suited to Brazilian needs than the competitors.

    After the confirmation of this order and maybe a favorable vote in Switzerland, the future of Swedish military aircraft industry will be secured for years to come : that's also good news for Europe, F-35 could fail to ruin our industry.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Doug AllenDecember 28, 2013 at 12:17 PM

    A brilliant coup for Saab....Now with Boeing and Saab/BAE teaming up...Will we see a concerted pitch for a Growler/NG mix for Canada? ...My only concern is an A/C with a single burner flying out of RCAF Station "Ptarmigan City."

    ReplyDelete

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