SAAB Gripen and Gripen NG thread #4

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18 years 9 months

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The original Gripen is going out of production and can't expect to be upgraded significantly from here on out.

There are significant radar upgrades waiting for someone to pay to implement them, & IIRC supposedly a road map for carrying over suitable upgrades from the NG - if anyone pays. That lot could be applied to the existing stock of Gripens, keeping them current. An MLU for the Gripen C/D.

SAAB has an interest in getting work & money from its existing customers, & it's more likely to do that by getting the best from the aircraft it's already sold them than trying to persuade them to throw away what they've spent & buy new.

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De-facto Fins will be operating sooner or later in a denied/deniable airspace over part of their own territory. The Grip is hardly a surviving airframe for that kind of daily exercise (I mean without going for a kill of the systems). They need Stealth and ideally dispersed basing. Not one or the other.

as Kosovo proved, russkies figured out long ago how to plink down 'stealth' a/c,
in fact F-117 had one of the worst survival rates, if not THE worst survival rate, when sorties per type is accounted for.
Additionally, Moscow no doubt picked up the american way of war, dispersed basing is not optional, its mandatory

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They figured out how to plink down stealthy aircraft when they knew where the stealthy aircraft was going to be (because it kept flying the same route so fleeting glimpses could be put together to build a picture of that route), so they could put a missile launcher in just the right place, & when it would arrive overhead (because they had spies logging the take-offs & they knew the route) so that a system which would normally need extraordinary luck to get a firing solution would be placed just right to have a good chance.

I doubt the USAF will be quite so complacent & co-operative again.

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They figured out how to plink down stealthy aircraft when they knew where the stealthy aircraft was going to be (because it kept flying the same route so fleeting glimpses could be put together to build a picture of that route), so they could put a missile launcher in just the right place, & when it would arrive overhead (because they had spies logging the take-offs & they knew the route) so that a system which would normally need extraordinary luck to get a firing solution would be placed just right to have a good chance.

I doubt the USAF will be quite so complacent & co-operative again.

F-16 had those very same conditions, and flew by far more sorties

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The original Gripen is going out of production and can't expect to be upgraded significantly from here on out.

The Gripen NG hasn't even flown yet and most certainly isn't mature. (even the affordable part is very much in question given what Brazil is paying)

As already noted above, if Finland were to find itself in conflict with Russia the Gripen would be operating within the threat radius of Russian SAMs from the moment its wheels retracted.

Finland can buy Gripens for air policing, knowing that they will be essentially useless for actual defense, or they can buy F-35s if they are serious about maintaining a credible self defense capability.

Finland is on average more than 250 km wide, that distance would provide a radar horizon of approx 12 000 feet. Even if the theoretical range of S400 largest missiles is well in excess of this the effectiveness will be very limited. Even if a F35 would have a 100 km(unlikely?) engangement range advantage I belive that it would be more than compensated by the superior survivability on the ground and what we can expect of a far superior availability & turnaround time for Gripen.

Regarding Gripen C/D upgrades you have been here long enough so you know otherwise.

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F-16 had those very same conditions, and flew by far more sorties

No they did not. The F-117 & B-2 were the only NATO aircraft that were cleared to strike downtown Belgrade for the first 60 days of the air operation. [And the same thing would perhaps not have worked against the B-2 which (unlike the F-117) was equipped with a RWR.]

The F-16 had a better survival rate only because its strike missions were never as dangerous as the F-117's.

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Finland is on average more than 250 km wide, that distance would provide a radar horizon of approx 12 000 feet. Even if the theoretical range of S400 largest missiles is well in excess of this the effectiveness will be very limited. Even if a F35 would have a 100 km(unlikely?) engangement range advantage I belive that it would be more than compensated by the superior survivability on the ground and what we can expect of a far superior availability & turnaround time for Gripen.

Add in a Beriev A-100 to go with that S-400. These guerilla tactics with light cheap aircraft might have worked well back in the 70s & 80s. Not so much today.

- Superior survivability on the ground - not logical. The only type that would provide a genuine advantage there is the F-35B.
- Superior turnaround time & availability - by how much and how do we know this.

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There is no Russian threat for Finland, get real. A basic overview of geopolitics and national interests and the nature of Finnish-Russian relations (hint, growing economic ties over past 15-20 years) will make that conclusion pretty obvious.

The ideal thing then would be to dissolve the Finnish Air Force (unless Sweden counts as a threat) and save billions. Unfortunately, from a military standpoint, Russia is very much a threat, even if actual conflict is highly unlikely.

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The ideal thing then would be to dissolve the Finnish Air Force (unless Sweden counts as a threat) and save billions. Unfortunately, from a military standpoint, Russia is very much a threat, even if actual conflict is highly unlikely.

From a purely military standpoint, the imbalance of forces is so great that no few dozen of F-35s would make any difference for Finland. Gripen can patrol airspace just as well during peacetime.

The only scenario where the F-35 would justify its cost and not be destroyed before even taking off is if Finland and Russia have some sort of aerial skirmishes around the border, without anyone fully committing. Finland is of course free to spend its money as best it sees fit, but IMO blowing billions for such an comically unlikely scenario is silly.

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12 years 10 months

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From a purely military standpoint, the imbalance of forces is so great that no few dozen of F-35s would make any difference for Finland. Gripen can patrol airspace just as well during peacetime.

The only scenario where the F-35 would justify its cost and not be destroyed before even taking off is if Finland and Russia have some sort of aerial skirmishes around the border, without anyone fully committing. Finland is of course free to spend its money as best it sees fit, but IMO blowing billions for such an comically unlikely scenario is silly.


How's spending billions on an advanced fighter jet equipped with an AESA radar, GaN-based EW system, sensor fusion, supercruise & Meteor capability, for peacetime patrolling, any less silly?

And if we accept that it is silly, why should we not also extend the same logic to Sweden and Norway, who too are wasting billions on utterly unsurvivable fighter fleets?

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You're assuming that NATO isn't going enter the picture while truth is, any hostility will almost certainly be preceded by a period of tensions. NATO accession could, if required, be pushed through in a matter of days.

And the Finns (like the Swedes) have already been working to ensure interoperability with NATO forces. Operating the F-35 in this case, will almost certainly be an advantage, given the number of F-35s that NATO is forecast to operate (vis a vis the far more limited numbers of Gripens operated by Sweden, Czech R. & Hungary).

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So now Russia is going to be fighting an offensive war against the entirety of NATO?

Are we even trying to stay even remotely plausible at this point?

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12 years 10 months

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So now Russia is going to be fighting an offensive war against the entirety of NATO?

Okay. Let me ask you a question here - is there any country in world the Russia could actually go to war against? (Not counting non-threats like Ukraine & Georgia.)

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18 years 9 months

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F-16 had those very same conditions, and flew by far more sorties

F-16s didn't fly one at a time (as in only one F-16 airborne at a time with no other aircraft accompanying it) along one route from one airfield towards the same target zone at the same time of day. So NOT the same conditions.

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Yesterday left the FMV of the 204th Swedish Gripen aircraft to the Armed Forces. The last plane in the three-part series. The cost of the whole-part series of 64 aircraft was the entire 1.5 billion less than what was agreed.

When the FMV Oscar Hull handed over the 204th Swedish JAS 39 Gripen aircraft to fly weapons inspector Anders Silwer it was a great milestone in the flight industry projects as decided by Parliament in 1982. Many milestones have been passed along the way and now part series three is delivered it on time, with the right technology and the right economics.

Development projects have a tendency to pull more costs than estimated when the difficulties encountered along the way, but here Jasprojektet shown that it is possible to keep the economy even though the system is on the cutting edge of technology. The cost for the customer will be about ten percent lower than agreed, the entire 1.5 billion.

Google translated from: http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/forsvarets_materielverk__fmv/pressreleases/stark-milstolpe-av-gripenprojektet-258602

According to Signatory average unit cost was < 30 million USD.

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The snow dominates the landscape, the thermometer shows zero temperatures and the sun sets just after three in the afternoon, after being born almost at nine in the morning. But the couple lived Lawrence and Marcelo Takase is happy to swap the Brazilian summer cold of Linkoping, a Swedish town with just over a hundred thousand inhabitants. The two are part of the first group of 46 professionals sent by companies from Brazil to participate in the Gripen NG project.

"The aircraft development work together with them is starting and this step is essential for the exchange of knowledge, for the transfer of technology," says Vivian. Master in Mechanical Engineering from USP, she takes the luggage to 13 years of experience in Embraer, where he worked in the projects of the Super Tucano, the KC-390 cargo and E-170/190 jets, Phenom, Legacy and Lineage.


By 2022, more than 350 Brazilians will work with the Gripen NG project in Sweden. In addition to Embraer, the AEL companies, Akaer, Atech, Inbra and Mectron will also send professionals to the headquarters of Saab in Linköping. They will act in the development of aircraft, project management, simulators and certification development, among other activities. With partner status in the Gripen NG project, Brazil will have starring role in the development of the version for two pilots and the first feasibility studies for the Gripen Sea, model with necessary adaptations to operate aboard the aircraft carrier.

For 2016 the expectation of Saab is completing the assembly of the first prototype of the Gripen NG. Three years from now, in 2019, will leave the factory in Linköping the first aircraft to Brazil. Of the 36 units purchased, fifteen will be produced in Brazil, with the last scheduled for delivery in 2024. The Swedish Air Force has already ordered another 60 units of the model. In all there are 96 firm orders, and the expectation is to increase the numbers with new exports.

Google translated from: http://www.fab.mil.br/noticias/mostra/24459/GRIPEN%20NG%20-%20Come%C3%A7ou%20a%20participa%C3%A7%C3%A3o%20do%20Brasil%20no%20projeto%20do%20ca%C3%A7a%20Gripen%20NG

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11 years 7 months

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There are significant radar upgrades waiting for someone to pay to implement them, & IIRC supposedly a road map for carrying over suitable upgrades from the NG - if anyone pays. That lot could be applied to the existing stock of Gripens, keeping them current. An MLU for the Gripen C/D.

SAAB has an interest in getting work & money from its existing customers, & it's more likely to do that by getting the best from the aircraft it's already sold them than trying to persuade them to throw away what they've spent & buy new.

Any jet could be upgraded if someone can be found to pay for it. That is exactly the problem... the cost of operating and upgrading a small fleet of aircraft is uneconomical. The Gripen was never produced in significant quantities and buying the last few dozen examples to be produced would be disastrous decision for the Finns.

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11 years 7 months

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From a purely military standpoint, the imbalance of forces is so great that no few dozen of F-35s would make any difference for Finland. Gripen can patrol airspace just as well during peacetime.

The only scenario where the F-35 would justify its cost and not be destroyed before even taking off is if Finland and Russia have some sort of aerial skirmishes around the border, without anyone fully committing. Finland is of course free to spend its money as best it sees fit, but IMO blowing billions for such an comically unlikely scenario is silly.

The point isn't to for Finland to defeat Russia 1 one 1 in a conventional war, that obviously isn't in the cards. The point is for Finland to have a sufficiently credible deterant capability to prevent Russians soldiers from taking their tanks and artillery and going on vacation in Finland.

If a full-scale war develops Finland's only chance would be to seek aid from Sweden, Norway, and ultimately all of NATO.

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12 years 7 months

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sufficient and credible capability by buying 20 fighters where 2 or 4 will be barely operational on single airbase. its waste of money and manpower which will be already in short supply in next 10 years.

its real time training to hit fighter planes on ground.


http://sputniknews.com/videoclub/20160129/1033926626/iskander-drills-video.html
During the exercise in the Krasnodarsky Territory, troops were practicing the full range of tasks with the Iskander-M, including deploying it and firing missiles at targets at a distance of up to 500 km.
The Iskander-M is a mobile short-range ballistic missile system designed to destroy a wide range of targets, including missiles, aircraft, and enemy ground facilities.

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14 years 1 month

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As already noted above, if Finland were to find itself in conflict with Russia the Gripen would be operating within the threat radius of Russian SAMs from the moment its wheels retracted.
Ballistic missiles are much more of a threat than SAMs. Imagine a target with say six billion dollars amassed on a relatively tiny area.. Russians would be silly to wait until the fighters get scrambled if they can turn them to smoke and ashes right on the ground.

Finland can buy Gripens for air policing, knowing that they will be essentially useless for actual defense, or they can buy F-35s if they are serious about maintaining a credible self defense capability.
Disagree. If they buy the F-35A, then it's only in order to get a ticket into a me-too-stealth-club. Fighters which require a large airbase within the range of ballistic missiles are paper tigers, they will never get a slightest chance to join the merge...

If they are serious about a credible self-defense capability, then will buy Gripen-E which can be dispersed on small hidden airfields. Or the F-35B.. I just wonder how many of these Finns could afford..

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11 years 7 months

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Ballistic missiles are much more of a threat than SAMs. Imagine a target with say six billion dollars amassed on a relatively tiny area.. Russians would be silly to wait until the fighters get scrambled if they can turn them to smoke and ashes right on the ground.

That is true of any modern fighter then. Gripen NG may be incrementally cheaper than the F-35, but not enough to matter in that scenario.

If you want to talk about dispersed operations then the F-35 is at least as capable of that as the Gripen NG. Finland currently practices for such operations using its F-18s, and one would expect an F-35C or F-35B to be capable of stepping into such an operational concept easily.

Disagree. If they buy the F-35A, then it's only in order to get a ticket into a me-too-stealth-club. Fighters which require a large airbase within the range of ballistic missiles are paper tigers, they will never get a slightest chance to join the merge...

Already explained above. The F-35 can use similar (F-35C) or smaller (F-35B) bases than the Gripen so this is hardly an argument in favor of Gripen.

If they are serious about a credible self-defense capability, then will buy Gripen-E which can be dispersed on small hidden airfields. Or the F-35B.. I just wonder how many of these Finns could afford..

Roughly the same number...