On the Saab media trip 2015, Jerker Ahlqvist, Vice President Head of GRIPEN business area Aeronautics gave an overview of Saab’s future market activities. Central and Eastern Europe is one of the larger potential markets for Saab, as they are replacing their aging Russian fighters, and could be interested in GRIPEN C/D. The Czech Republic has leased 12 GRIPEN C and two D and, according to Saab are interested in six more C/D. Hungary has leased 12 Cs and two Ds with an option for four more C/Ds; while Croatia will start up a very aggressive procurement process with Type Selection by next year, needing replacement for MiG 21s, and Bulgaria is looking as well.
Finland is a very interesting country for Saab, due to synergies shared, looking to receiving an RfI next year, an RfP by 2018; with a contract by 2020 for 40-60 aircraft. In terms of competition, Saab sees some of the usual suspects there: “We know that the Fins are sensitive to an aircraft that has reached the end of development and want something with a future,” according to a Saab executive.
Sweden will see first delivery by 2019.
Elsewhere in Europe, the UK has leased one GRIPEN D, Sweden might need more aircraft in the future, and Austria is some years away, where Saab is monitoring the situation. According to Saab officials, Switzerland WILL come back in a few years time with new a new proposal, where the GRIPEN E/F will compete, while in terms of suppliers, Saab will honour the supplier contracts signed, in this case with RUAG. Saab also sees an RfP from Belgium late this year to replace their F16. The E/F will be offered.
Thailand, who currently has 12 GRIPEN Cs and two Ds, is one of the most advanced customers of Saab today. In the same region, Malaysia and Indonesia are interested in the fighter, with the latter starting a F5 replacement programme in a transparent procurement process by 2019, wanting to develop its own industry. As Saab in its weapons integration is agnostic and will go in the direction the customers asks them to, a possible cooperation with Roketsan’s missiles is possible.
The Phillipines have asked questions, complementing their T-50. For India, Saab is able to set up a similar programme as they did in Brazil, but are biding their time and watching the process.
Brazil has been a game changer for Saab. By 2023, the company sees more chances together with their partner Embraer in this market with the E/F, whereas the C/D could be an alternative for, e.g. Columbia, who would need replacements in the next five years. According to Saab executives: “Brazil has changed the scene for us, interest has grown.”
Recently, Saab has signed the weapons acquisition agreement with Brazil, with the Brazilian government not disclosing any more details. The Brazilian requirement is over 100 aircraft in three batches, with a possible materialisation of Sea GRIPEN by 2025, once Brazil will detail what they will do with their carrier.
In Africa, Saab monitors the region from South Africa export (17 Cs, 9Ds), as this region needs to mature more. Having a strong position with their industrial base in South Africa, Saab sees potential in Botswana (F-5 fleet replacement; fastest growing economy in Afrika), Kenya (shown interest in GRIPEN), and Namibia (ambitions; want to get rid of Chinese aircraft).
Saab is pushing for 300-450 aircraft over the next 20 years, i.e. 10-15% of the accessible market.
On the press trip, Saab unveiled their new PS-05/A Mk 4 upgraded multi-mode radar (x-band, no change in frequency; including wide-band receivers within the system bandwidth) offering a significantly enhancement in acquisition range: By 2017, an improvement of about 150% through a combination of hard- and software upgrades, using the present antenna. In low altitudes, by 2017 this has an improvement of 140%. By 2017, very small objects will be able to be detected. The development was internally funded by Saab without making any changes to the aircraft at very low cost. New functions are being integrated constantly into this and no hardware changes will be done to the cockpit. This is not an AESA radar, due to cost-effectiveness, leaving the aircraft modification to a minimum, but AESA technology is very important to Saab, and if there is a requirement or a partner that would include it, Saab would consider it. The roadmap for integrating this onto C/D is that Saab is in discussions with the Swedish Air Force, but nothing set yet, and have briefed all other C/D customers. Furthermore, there will be discussions with future export customers.
Saab has developed the PS-05/A fighter radar to a new version designated Mk4, which gives Gripen C/D improved performance and operating range. The development is a significant step on the roadmap for the future capability enhancement of the Gripen C/D. The PS-05/A Mk4 is the most recent development of the renowned PS-05/A radar, originally developed for the Gripen fighter. Through continuous spiral development it has maintained its position as one of the most competent fighter radars in the world.
A new hardware configuration with a complete new radar back-end gives significantly improved radar performance and operational range, enhances the GRIPEN Weapon System capabilities and offers full AMRAAM and Meteor integration. It also enables significant capability growth through software upgrades to successfully counter evolving threats in decades to come.
A new Air-to-Air mode has been implemented and demonstrated which takes full advantage of the signal processing capacity and the flexible waveform generation in PS-05/A Mk4. This mode increases acquisition range with 100% at low altitudes compared to previous version of PS- 05/A. This radar mode will also be useful for detection of targets with very low Radar Cross Section. The METEOR missile downlink is optimized to maintain radar performance during long-range data linking scenarios.
Finland is a very interesting country for Saab, due to synergies shared, looking to receiving an RfI next year, an RfP by 2018; with a contract by 2020 for 40-60 aircraft. In terms of competition, Saab sees some of the usual suspects there: “We know that the Fins are sensitive to an aircraft that has reached the end of development and want something with a future,” according to a Saab executive.
Sweden will see first delivery by 2019.
Elsewhere in Europe, the UK has leased one GRIPEN D, Sweden might need more aircraft in the future, and Austria is some years away, where Saab is monitoring the situation. According to Saab officials, Switzerland WILL come back in a few years time with new a new proposal, where the GRIPEN E/F will compete, while in terms of suppliers, Saab will honour the supplier contracts signed, in this case with RUAG. Saab also sees an RfP from Belgium late this year to replace their F16. The E/F will be offered.
Thailand, who currently has 12 GRIPEN Cs and two Ds, is one of the most advanced customers of Saab today. In the same region, Malaysia and Indonesia are interested in the fighter, with the latter starting a F5 replacement programme in a transparent procurement process by 2019, wanting to develop its own industry. As Saab in its weapons integration is agnostic and will go in the direction the customers asks them to, a possible cooperation with Roketsan’s missiles is possible.
The Phillipines have asked questions, complementing their T-50. For India, Saab is able to set up a similar programme as they did in Brazil, but are biding their time and watching the process.
Brazil has been a game changer for Saab. By 2023, the company sees more chances together with their partner Embraer in this market with the E/F, whereas the C/D could be an alternative for, e.g. Columbia, who would need replacements in the next five years. According to Saab executives: “Brazil has changed the scene for us, interest has grown.”
Recently, Saab has signed the weapons acquisition agreement with Brazil, with the Brazilian government not disclosing any more details. The Brazilian requirement is over 100 aircraft in three batches, with a possible materialisation of Sea GRIPEN by 2025, once Brazil will detail what they will do with their carrier.
In Africa, Saab monitors the region from South Africa export (17 Cs, 9Ds), as this region needs to mature more. Having a strong position with their industrial base in South Africa, Saab sees potential in Botswana (F-5 fleet replacement; fastest growing economy in Afrika), Kenya (shown interest in GRIPEN), and Namibia (ambitions; want to get rid of Chinese aircraft).
Saab is pushing for 300-450 aircraft over the next 20 years, i.e. 10-15% of the accessible market.
On the press trip, Saab unveiled their new PS-05/A Mk 4 upgraded multi-mode radar (x-band, no change in frequency; including wide-band receivers within the system bandwidth) offering a significantly enhancement in acquisition range: By 2017, an improvement of about 150% through a combination of hard- and software upgrades, using the present antenna. In low altitudes, by 2017 this has an improvement of 140%. By 2017, very small objects will be able to be detected. The development was internally funded by Saab without making any changes to the aircraft at very low cost. New functions are being integrated constantly into this and no hardware changes will be done to the cockpit. This is not an AESA radar, due to cost-effectiveness, leaving the aircraft modification to a minimum, but AESA technology is very important to Saab, and if there is a requirement or a partner that would include it, Saab would consider it. The roadmap for integrating this onto C/D is that Saab is in discussions with the Swedish Air Force, but nothing set yet, and have briefed all other C/D customers. Furthermore, there will be discussions with future export customers.
Saab has developed the PS-05/A fighter radar to a new version designated Mk4, which gives Gripen C/D improved performance and operating range. The development is a significant step on the roadmap for the future capability enhancement of the Gripen C/D. The PS-05/A Mk4 is the most recent development of the renowned PS-05/A radar, originally developed for the Gripen fighter. Through continuous spiral development it has maintained its position as one of the most competent fighter radars in the world.
A new hardware configuration with a complete new radar back-end gives significantly improved radar performance and operational range, enhances the GRIPEN Weapon System capabilities and offers full AMRAAM and Meteor integration. It also enables significant capability growth through software upgrades to successfully counter evolving threats in decades to come.
A new Air-to-Air mode has been implemented and demonstrated which takes full advantage of the signal processing capacity and the flexible waveform generation in PS-05/A Mk4. This mode increases acquisition range with 100% at low altitudes compared to previous version of PS- 05/A. This radar mode will also be useful for detection of targets with very low Radar Cross Section. The METEOR missile downlink is optimized to maintain radar performance during long-range data linking scenarios.
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