The Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) has awarded a new order to Saab to supply new equipment for the Gripen E multi-role fighter jet.
Supplemental to the original deal signed in 2013, the deal is valued at $153m (Skr1.4bn).
According to the deal, Saab is required to supply new equipment instead of reusing equipment from the existing Gripen C/D fleet within the Swedish Armed Forces.
The original contract had stipulated certain equipment from the existing Swedish Gripen C/D fleet be reused.
However, the company now reportedly claims that the latest way of using new equipment on Gripen E ensures the ‘availability’ of the Swedish Gripen C/D fleet currently in service.
The Gripen E is to be delivered and introduced to the Swedish Armed Forces.
Saab-developed Gripen aircraft was first flown in December 1988 and entered operational service with the Swedish Air Force in 1997.
In March 2021, Saab conducted a test flight of an exterior 3D-printed replacement hatch component on a Gripen multirole fighter jet at its facilities in Linköping, Sweden.
Earlier this year, Saab proposed to build a sensor centre under its bid for Canada’s Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP).
