Bullish Saab Sets Rollout Date For Gripen E

Saab will roll out the first Gripen E version at Linkoping, Sweden on May 18, said Richard Smith, the company’s head of marketing and sales for the combat aircraft. In a bullish briefing at the Singapore Airshow last week, Smith said that thanks to the 60 new-build E/F jets for Sweden, plus the Brazilian Gripen order and other surveillance and submarine programs, the Swedish company’s backlog was at an all-time high of $13.5 billion. The Gripen thus has a guaranteed long-term future, and the sales goal was “at least 300 more,” Smith said.

Smith described the “huge technical transfer program” associated with the Brazilian acquisition of Gripen. This includes 50 key projects in four categories, and is an expanded version of the model used in South Africa’s Gripen deal. Last October, the first 48 of an eventual 350 Brazilian engineers arrived in Sweden to work on the project. Fifteen of the expected 36 Gripens to be acquired by Brazil will be built by Embraer at a Development Center to be established at Gaviao Peixato. The center will also help develop the two-seat Gripen F and integrate weapons. There had been no slow-down of the Brazilian program, despite that country’s recent economic difficulties, Smith told AIN.  Preliminary design of a Sea Gripen version had been completed, with a potential Brazilian requirement in mind, Smith said. “Now we must do a market analysis,” he added.

Meanwhile, development of the existing Gripen C/D version was continuing. The Swedish air force was introducing the MS20 upgrade that includes a new radar processor and receiver/exciter, a new IRST (infrared search and track), and new weapons. The Mk4 radar upgrade provides longer range to exploit the new MBDAMeteor BVRAAM (beyond visual range air-to-air missile), which Sweden will be the first to declare operational. 

Reviewing sales prospects, Smith said final negotiations with  Slovakia for eight new C/Ds were in progress; Bulgaria and Croatia were also prospects in eastern Europe. Belgium required 30-36 new fighters to replace F-16s, and Finland between 48 and 60 new jets to replace F/A-18C/Ds. Saab had discussed a third batch of six Gripens with Thailand, where the company hopes to eventually sell a total of 36. Indonesia was “still a prospect” said Smith, where the Saab 2000 AEW aircraft was also being offered, after the success of that combination in Thailand. Malaysia had been offered a lease of 16 aircraft, he said. With a huge fleet of MiG-21s to replace, India “was a perfect fit, and we see a huge possibility to satisfy the ‘Make in India’ policy,” Smith added. 

Boeing to start exporting air crafts to Iran

​The Boeing Company was cleared by U.S. government to begin negotiations with approved carriers in Iran about their fleet needs commercial aircraft market, Gulf News reports.

"We have applied for and received a license to assess the current commercial passenger airplane needs of US government-approved Iranian airlines," Boeing representative said. "The license permits us to engage approved airlines to determine their actual fleet requirements."

The aircraft fleet in Islamic Republic consists of about 140 aircraft and is considered of the oldest in the world with an average plane age of around 20 years. After sanctions were lifted, Iran has been seeking to refresh its fleet by adding new aircraft, the first step was a deal with Airbus to purchase 118 planes for about US$25 billion in January.

It is estimated, that the country of 80 million people could support 300 to 600 new aircraft. Boeing deliveries would be the first U.S. aircraft to Iran since the 1970, but the company will still need a separate licence to complete any commercial aircraft sales.