Saab has secured a 2.5-billion Swedish krona ($270 million) contract from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) to support continued development of the Gripen fighter aircraft through 2028. The funding reinforces Sweden’s long-term commitment to maintaining the combat relevance of its indigenous multirole fighter amid evolving air warfare threats.
Under the agreement, Saab will conduct extensive development, testing, and operational support activities, including the operation of test aircraft and the use of advanced engineering tools such as simulators, test rigs, and digital development environments. These assets enable Saab to validate existing Gripen capabilities while accelerating the evaluation of future upgrades across avionics, sensors, and weapons systems.
Saab highlighted that a strong test and simulation ecosystem is essential to ensuring the Gripen remains competitive against next-generation fighter platforms. The funded work will support integration of new avionics suites, expanded weapons compatibility, enhanced sensor fusion, and performance improvements identified during flight test campaigns.
The Gripen multirole fighter is designed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, combining high agility, advanced networking, and real-time data sharing. Beyond Sweden, the aircraft is operated by Brazil, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Colombia, and South Africa, with multiple users investing in continuous modernization to maintain interoperability with allied air forces.
