RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Swedish company Saab delivered the first of the 36 Gripen fighters purchased by the Brazilian government in 2014 to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) to re-equip the Air Force’s fleet. The delivery ceremony took place yesterday morning, September 10th, in the city of Linköping, Sweden, and was attended by the Minister of Defense, Fernando Azevedo, the Air Force Commander, Lieutenant Brigadier Antonio Carlos Moretti Bermudez, and Brazilian and Swedish officials.
Although it is now owned by the Air Force, the F-39 Gripen should only arrive in Brazil in 2021, since the equipment testing program began in Sweden yesterday. For the next two years, the fighter will be submitted to a series of tests in order to confirm that it is up to the contracted specifications.
A first experimental flight was carried out in August this year. It was an inaugural flight of approximately one hour for engineers and managers to assess the basic handling, the fighter’s behavior at different altitudes and speeds and the functioning of operational systems.
If approved, from 2021 part of the remaining aircraft will be completely assembled in Brazil. The assembly of fighters in Brazil is part of the technology transfer program that, in addition to financial reasons, motivated the Brazilian government to choose the Swedish model, in preference to its American (Boeing) and French (Dassault) competitors. The contract provides for industrial cooperation (offset) for the development and production of 36 Gripen aircraft of the E (single-seater) and F (two-seater) models.
According to Saab, over 350 Brazilians, including engineers and technicians, are actively participating in the technology transfer program, including training periods in Sweden. In addition, the Gripen Projects and Development Center was inaugurated in 2016 at the Embraer unit in Gavião Peixoto, in the interior of São Paulo state. At the center, Brazilian and Swedish engineers work together to develop the project. If all goes well, all 36 aircraft will be delivered by 2024.
In São Bernardo do Campo (São Paulo), a plant where parts of the aircraft will be produced is being erected, while final assembly will be at the Gavião Peixoto site.
The initial contract provides for the payment of US$4.5 billion for the development and production of 36 aircraft, in addition to including a technology transfer program that would allow the Brazilian aerospace industry to master the technology and knowledge needed to maintain and develop the Gripen in Brazil in the future.