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2021-10-01

Gripen E Wows Finland

In August, at the Kaivopuisto Airshow in Finland, Saab’s first official Gripen E flying display was successfully carried out by test pilot André “Bulan” Brännström.

Reportedly, this autumn, Finland will be nearing their decision on the HX programme, for which Saab is competing. As part of the campaign in Finland, Saab took part in the Kaivopuisto Airshow, which welcomed nearly 80,000 spectators.

“It felt great!” said Brännström. “I flew the sequence 16 times to train for the demo, and this 17th time was the best! As a pilot, you never expect the demo to be perfect, but I was actually euphoric when I touched down. When you are getting ready for a demo flight, your body is pumped full of adrenaline, so afterwards, it felt great to say: I pulled it off.”

Brännström has flown as Saab’s demo pilot for six seasons and has flown in many different environments. In Helsinki, he flew over the port area around Kaivopuisto, with infrastructure that must be taken into account. There are always special restrictions when flying near a big city, and there is always a team that plans and conducts an airshow.

“Even though I’m the one behind the controls, this is really a team effort,” he added. “There were about 10 of us and one Gripen E that travelled to Finland to carry out the demo flight. Everyone in the team has equal responsibility for their areas, and when things go well, you are very happy that the whole team performed well.”

Greater Manoeuvrability and Acceleration

As a demo pilot, it is important to devise flight sequences that demonstrate how the aircraft performs. Therefore, Brännström usually practises his demo flight sequences over Saab a few times a month, as well as together with the Swedish Air Force’s demo pilots during a couple of days of ‘boot camp’ each year. This is done to hone the details and prepare for the upcoming season.

The Swedish Air Force and Saab have different reasons for carrying out demo flights. Saab aims to showcase Gripen’s performance, whereas the Swedish Air Force wants to conduct airshows to generate interest in the Air Force and its various professions. For the Swedish Air Force, the season runs over the summer, while Brännström has the privilege of training all year round. Prior to the airshow in Finland, he had flown 176 flying displays with Gripen.

“But this was the first with Gripen E, and it feels like a bigger and stronger aircraft,” he shared. “It has greater manoeuvrability and acceleration, and, above all, the thrust is much better in Gripen E. We have 10 tonnes of thrust, which produce a real kick. We can manoeuvre in ways that we weren’t really been able to before. It’s going to be really great to continue demonstrating Gripen E at airshows in the future. We don’t have any new demo flights scheduled, although I rarely do, since they get planned when the need arises. Whether or not it will be Gripen E largely depends on access to aircraft with the right configuration.”

The first demo flight with Gripen E has been reportedly carried out with good results. Saab is preparing for a busy autumn involving work to complete testing and deliveries. The decision concerning Finland’s procurement is expected to be made towards the year-end.

Brännström concluded: “We have an excellent platform to showcase, but I would like to point out that the greatest capabilities possessed by Gripen E are not usually seen at an airshow, such as the ability of Gripen E to operate in a complex environment, a revolutionary avionics structure, its longer range and its sizable cargo capacity. The biggest boost is the tactical capability, which is achieved by the combination of capability upgrades.”

Seamless Integration

Saab has offered Finland a new decoy missile as part of the Gripen EW (Electronic Warfare) package for the HX fighter procurement project. The offer also includes the new Electronic Attack Jammer Pod (EAJP) to enhance the existing EW capability of the Gripen.

The decoy missile will constitute a strong addition to Gripen E/F’s built-in electronic attack capabilities. The payload of the new decoy missile is to a large extent developed in Finland.

Furthermore, Saab’s new Lightweight Air-launched Decoy Missile (LADM) is a highly capable stand-in jammer used to suppress hostile Air Defence Systems, protect the aircraft, and increase missile hit probability, among others. The advanced EAJP, on the other hand, is to protect aircraft against radars by using sophisticated jamming functions, thereby blocking the opponent’s ability to attack them. Since both the EAJP and LADM are built on Gripen’s proven and effective EW system, it will allow for a seamless integration if Finland chooses Gripen.

Finnish officials have received final offers from five vendors for the multibillion-dollar HX fighter jet competition, kicking off an evaluation phase slated to run throughout 2021. Besides Gripen, aircraft like Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin’s F-35A, and Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler have also been shortlisted for Finland’s HX fighter requirement.

With a tender ceiling of €9 billion (US$11 billion), the competition is one of the most significant air-armament acquisitions in Europe. It aims to find a replacement for the Nordic country’s fleet of F-18 Hornets.

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