Hugarian Dual Seat Gripen in the Air

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Hugarian Dual Seat Gripen in the Air

The maiden flight of the first Hungarian dual seat Gripen aircraft took place yesterday at Saab in Linköping, Sweden. The aircraft, which was flown by a test pilot from Saab, was painted with the new gray Hungarian national insignia on the aircraft.

“This flight is yet another important milestone for the Hungarian program and demonstrates that the production of Gripen aircraft for Hungary is continuing according to plan,” says Mats Hansson, FMV Program Director for the Gripen for Hungary program.

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From Saab:

The maiden flight of the first Hungarian dual seat Gripen aircraft took place yesterday at Saab in Linköping, Sweden. The aircraft, which was flown by a test pilot from Saab, was painted with the new gray Hungarian national insignia on the aircraft.

“This flight is yet another important milestone for the Hungarian program and demonstrates that the production of Gripen aircraft for Hungary is continuing according to plan” – says Mats Hansson FMV Program Director for the Gripen for Hungary program.

Following this maiden flight, the aircraft now enters a period of ground and flight-testing to verify that all systems are operating in accordance with the Hungarian Gripen configuration plan.

This is the first of 2 (two) Gripen dual seat aircraft, together with 12 (twelve) Gripen (single seat) aircraft, that Hungary will lease for a period of 10 years, before taking ownership of the aircraft under the terms of the agreement signed between the Swedish and Hungarian authorities in February 2003. Deliveries of the 14 Gripen aircraft to Hungary will take place between March 2006 and December 2007.

Hungarian pilots and technicians have been undergoing training - in Sweden with the Swedish Air Force, from the beginning of 2005 and are scheduled to return to Hungary ahead of the arrival of the first Gripen aircraft in March 2006.

Hungary will be the second NATO country to operate the latest Gripen fighter, but will be the first NATO operator to equip the latest versions of the Gripen aircraft for the air-to-surface role. These aircraft are the latest standard of the Gripen and are equipped with full color cockpit displays, a retractable air-to-air refueling probe and are fully NATO-interoperable.

Any queries regarding this press release should be addressed to Ulf Lindstrom FMV´s Press Officer, mobile + 46 70-982 63 96. E-mail: [email]ulf.lindstrom@fmv.se[/email]. Pictures from the flight can be found here.