Gripen – The most versatile, globally interoperable fighter available

Gripen offers outstanding flexibility, interoperability, and true multi-role/swing-role capability. It was designed to undertake air-to-air, air-to-surface and reconnaissance missions and to be able to change roles in the air without any changes to the aircraft hardware or software. Gripen is cleared for a variety of NATO and non-aligned stores and as a result of its unique weapons system capability, will enable a customer?s weapons integration aspirations to be met.

One of the key features of the Gripen avionics and weapon systems is the ease of integration of new stores (weapons and role equipment). From the outset, the importance of flexibility was given a high priority. It was recognized that every customer has different aspirations and/or existing stores within their inventory and that they may therefore wish to integrate their own choice of stores onto their ‘front-line´ platform. To enable this aspiration to be fulfilled, the avionics architecture within the Gripen platform was designed with flexibility in mind.

Unique characteristics of the weapon system - Gripen always 'flies like a Gripen!'
Today, air forces require their new fighters to have a number of outstanding qualities, such as multi-role/swing-role capability, stand-off weapons capability, precision strike weapons capability, interoperability of aircraft and equipment, rapid turnaround and high availability, low cost of operations and in addition, the aircraft has to have flexibility and be adaptable for future growth.

To accommodate these requirements the philosophy of the Gripen design is fundamentally different to others. Traditionally, new stores had to be analyzed and flight cleared, then g', angles of attack and other key parameter limits defined. These limits would then be used to upgrade the Flight Control System (FCS) which itself would then need re-clearance. With Gripen this is no longer required. Saab has developed a FCS that will makes it easier, more cost effective and quicker to integrate new alternative stores onto the aircraft. The design, which is currently being flown and evaluated in the Gripen C aims to retain Gripen´s carefree handling regardless of the load carried enabling Gripen to always 'fly like a Gripen'. In short no amendments or re-clearance of the FCS are required, therefore saving time, money and effort.

In addition, if the store is 1760 data bus compatible (a 'smart store') the store itself informs the aircraft what it is without the need for a ‘human-in-the loop´.

A typical stores fit for the Gripen C/D aircraft includes:
• AIM-9 Sidewinder
• AIM-120 AMRAAM
• AGM-65 Maverick
• DWS39 Stand Off Dispenser
• RBS-15 Anti-shipping Missile
• GBU 10/12/16 laser guided bombs
• Mk. 82/83/84 bombs
• Optional Litening G III FLIR/LDP and optional reconnaissance pods

Additional Capability
Other weapons will be integrated to satisfy customers' operational requirements such as R-Darter and the Mk.81 general-purpose bombs. In addition, a number of other activities have occurred, including the steady progress of future programs, that will give Gripen the capability to enhance its within visual range, beyond visual range, stand-off and precision strike capabilities. A summary of these activities are the captive carriage flight of the KEPD-350, the Meteor missile program, where Gripen has been selected to conduct the first air-launched live firing in 2005, the IRIS-T missile program, where discussions are progressing between Saab and FMV (Swedish Defense Material Administration) regarding the missile?s integration onto Gripen, and a number of feasibility studies that have confirmed that AIM-9X, A-Darter, ASRAAM, Python 4, Python 5, Derby, MICA, SPICE, Lizard II and III and the EHUD Autonomous Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation Pod can all be carried on the Gripen.