Posted on 04/16/2014 12:53:10 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Saab Gripen ... a single engine, two-crew, multi-role fighter made in Sweden. Source: News Corp Australia
THIS is the low-cost, high performance fighter jet that Australia overlooked when the RAAF spent more than $6 billion to fill a capability gap between its retiring F-111 and Hornet fleets and the controversial stealth F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The Saab Gripen is a single engine, two-crew, multi-role fighter made in Sweden and according to the builder it costs about $US7000 an hour to run compared to $US11,000 for the Boeing Super Hornet operated by the Royal Australian Air Force and $21,000 an hour for the next generation JSF.
The plane costs almost the same as a Super Hornet to buy, but Saab claims the Gripen requires just 2.5 hours of maintenance for every hour of flying.
It is designed to operate in isolation with just six support personnel during wartime and is in service with Sweden (60), Thailand (12) and Brazil (36) and will soon be bought by Switzerland (22).
It is in the sights of numerous other countries around the globe including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Peru, Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Slovakia, Belgium and Colombia.
All these nations have small military budgets so the cost of purchase and operating a fighter fleet is a vital factor and Saab’s commitment to breaking the cost curve has broad appeal.
The company has built more than 5000 military and civil aircraft since the 1950s and its latest jet is 30 per cent cheaper than its predecessor.
Technical innovation is a Saab trait and the landing gear on the aircraft has been redesigned so the jet can carry 40 per cent more fuel internally.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
I know that Australia requires an aircraft with long range to cover not just the Australian continent but also to project airpower far out from the Australian landmass. Does the Grippen have this long range capability?
Combat range for JSF-35 is only 100 mi more than the Gripen.
OK, thanks. For some reason I thought that the Grippen had a limited range.
“Combat range for JSF-35 is only 100 mi more than the Gripen.”
Every time a hear something new about the F-35 weight is going up and range is going down.
Combat radius of a Gripen NG is nearly twice the size of old Gripen A/B/C/D variants: 1,300 km. (ferry range: 4,000 km)
The Gripen NG is also capable of supercruise in air combat configuration.
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