Current Testing Includes Tactical And Communications Systems

The flight test program with Gripen NG Demonstrator continues according to plan at the Saab facilities in Linkoping, Sweden, Saab said Monday.

Gripen NG File Photo

Saab is now testing all the tactical systems, such as the AESA radar and the new communications system. The test program is very extensive, and the unusually harsh cold and snowy winter here in Sweden has challenged the program schedule, but Mattias Bergstrom, the Gripen NG Demonstrator project manager says they are now quickly catching up. The airplane has successfully completed 117 test flights since the flight test program started, including the most recent flight taken Monday.

Bergstrom says Saab has finished, and successfully verified, the flight tests of the electro-optical Missile Approach Warning System (MAW) and the new fuel system with larger internal fuel tanks.

The Gripen NG is the next generation of the Gripen fighter, which is in service with the air forces of Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Africa. It is also ordered by the Royal Thai Air Force and is flown by the Empire Test Pilots School, ETPS, in the UK.

FMI: www.gripen.com