The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (English: Griffin

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) is a light single-engine multirole fighter
aircraft manufactured by the !edish aeros"ace com"any aab# $t !as designed to
re"lace the aab 3% &ra'en and 3( )iggen in the !edish *ir +orce(Flygvapnet)# The
Gri"en has a delta !ing and canard configuration !ith rela,ed stability design and fly-by-
!ire flight controls# $t is "o!ered by the )ol-o ./012 and has a to" s"eed of /ach 1# 3ater
aircraft are modified for N*T4 intero"erability standards and to underta'e in-flight
refuelling#
$n 05(52 the !edish go-ernment began de-elo"ment studies for an aircraft ca"able of
fighter2 attac' and reconnaissancemissions to re"lace the aab 3% &ra'en and 3( )iggen#
* ne! design from aab !as selected and de-elo"ed as the 6* 352 first flying in 0577#
+ollo!ing t!o crashes during flight de-elo"ment and subse8uent alterations to the aircraft9s
flight control soft!are2 the Gri"en entered ser-ice !ith the !edish *ir +orce in 055(#
:"graded -ariants2 featuring more ad-anced a-ionics and ada"tations for longer mission
times2 began entering ser-ice in 1;;3#
$n order to mar'et the aircraft to e,"ort customers2 aab has formed se-eral "artnershi"s
and collaborati-e efforts !ith multi"le o-erseas aeros"ace com"anies# 4ne e,am"le of
such efforts !as Gri"en $nternational2 a <oint "artnershi" bet!een aab and =*E
ystems formed in 1;;0# Gri"en $nternational !as res"onsible for mar'eting the aircraft2
and !as hea-ily in-ol-ed in the successful e,"ort of the ty"e to outh *frica> the
organi?ation !as later dissol-ed amidst allegations of briberybeing em"loyed to secure
foreign interest and sales# 4n the e,"ort mar'et2 the Gri"en has achie-ed moderate
success in sales to nations in @entral Euro"e2 outh *frica and outheast *sia> bribes
ha-e been re"ortedly in-ol-ed in some of these "rocurements#
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* further -ersion2 designated Gripen JAS 39 E/F2 is under de-elo"ment as of 1;04> it has
been referred to as Gripen NG orSuper-JAS#
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The changes include the ado"tion of a ne!
"o!er"lant2 the General Electric +404G2 an acti-e electronically scanned array radar2 and
significantly increased internal fuel ca"acity# aab has "ro"osed other deri-ati-es2 including
a na-alised Sea Gripen for carrier o"erations and an o"tionally-manned aircraft
for unmanned o"erations# !eden has ordered the Gri"en EA+ and =ra?il and !it?erland
initially selected it for "rocurement# *s of 1;032 more than 14( Gri"ens ha-e been built#
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