Saab presented the latest developments in the Gripen Programme for Brazil at a press briefing during the LAAD International Defence & Security Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Saab presented several achievements during the past year, as well as an insight of upcoming milestones.
“The last year has been successful for the Brazilian Gripen programme. Among other things, we have installed both the Wide Area Display (WAD) and the engine on the first Gripen E for Brazil. This year, the first aircraft to Brazil will be delivered to start the flight test campaign in Linköping, Sweden”, says Mikael Franzén, head of business unit Gripen Brazil, within Saab business area Aeronautics.
Last year the Swedish Air Force decided to equip their fighters with the WAD, the Head-Up Display (HUD) and the Helmet Mounted Display (HMD), developed by the Brazilian company AEL.
“The Swedish and the Brazilian Gripen fighters will have the same configuration for the displays, harmonizing the programmes. This means great savings to the aircraft maintenance and in future software development. This is really a good example of the successful collaboration between Saab and the Brazilian defence industry”, says Mikael Franzén.
The transfer of technology programme continues to advance. So far, 165 Brazilian engineers have been trained in Sweden and completed their technology transfer programmes. Most of them are now working at the Gripen Design and Development Network (GDDN) in the state of São Paulo. GDDN was designed to serve as the technological development centre for Gripen in Brazil for Saab, Embraer and other Brazilian partner beneficiaries.
GDDN is the central hub for the Gripen development work in Brazil in areas such as vehicle systems, airframe design and systems installation, system integration, avionics, human-machine interface and communications. At GDDN, Gripen F, the two-seated version of Gripen, is being developed. Currently there are 120 engineers working at GDDN, in a great co-operation between Brazilians and Swedes.
Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions within military defence and civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents around the world. Through innovative, collaborative and pragmatic thinking, Saab develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers’ changing needs.
