F-39 Gripen
RIO DE JANEIRO— Embraer and Saab agreed on April 11 to jointly offer the C-390 Millennium to the Swedish air force and possibly other countries, discuss options for integrating Saab technologies on the Brazilian airlifter and collaborate on future fighter technologies.
The memorandum of understanding announced at the LAAD Defense and Security convention here marks the first time the industrial partners have agreed to collaborate on the C-390 and fighter technologies beyond the 36 F-39 Gripens currently ordered by the Brazilian air force.
“I am sure that the two companies together can further grow their business in various markets around the world,” said Bosco da Costa Jr., CEO of Embraer Defense and Security.
The agreement comes as Sweden reportedly threw out a plan to buy four Lockheed Martin C-130Js from the Italian air force, leaving the air force to reassess options for replacing an aging fleet of C-130Hs.
Saab now will offer the C-390 to the Swedish air force as the C-130H replacement, Saab CEO Micael Johansson told reporters during a LAAD news conference. The agreement also would cover any Saab technologies that need to be integrated into the C-390 to meet the Swedish air force’s requirements.
The companies also plan to broaden their decade-old partnership on delivering Gripen fighters to the Brazilian air force. Embraer already is assembling 15 of the single-seat F-39Es in Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil, and assisted with the design of the two-seat F-39F.
Saab confirmed plans to assemble any F-39 orders by other Latin American countries at Embraer’s facility in Gaviao Peixoto. Johansson named Colombia and Peru as near-term sales prospects for the Gripen in the region. Peru is looking for a replacement for aging Mikoyan MiG-29s. Colombia, meanwhile, selected the Dassault Rafale at the end of last year, but failed to finalize a contract before the budget authorization for the program expired.
“I look forward to when they start the process again,” Johansson said.
But Saab and Embraer’s partnership on fighter technology now may endure beyond the Gripen. Last June, Sweden’s military procurement agency awarded Saab a contract to launch studies of next-generation fighter technologies. Saab now plans to collaborate with Embraer on some of those studies, with any resulting technologies possibly retrofitted on the international Gripen fleet and addressing “future fighter needs as they arise,” Saab said in a statement.
Johansson added that the studies will address “systems of systems” technologies for next-generation fighters, naming communication networks and artificial intelligence as among the options to be explored. Uncrewed aircraft serving as autonomous partners to crewed fighters or acting as independent combat platforms also may be involved.
The Swedish government’s concept studies still are in the initial phase, Johansson said, adding that plans include flying demonstrators of the new fighter technologies.
“We think we can do [this] together more effectively [with Embraer],” Johansson said.
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