South African Air Force Takes Delivery of First Gripen

Released on Thursday, May 08, 2008

5/8/2008 | As part of its 1999 Strategic Defence Procurement, South Africa ordered [26] modern Gripen fighters for its front-line air defence and fighter requirement. The new multiple capability aircraft are replacing the SAAF's fleet of Cheetah aircraft. South Africa will receive 26 Gripen new generation fighters � 9 dual-seat and 17 single-seat.

Delivery of the first Gripen follows an extensive two-year flight test programme in South Africa to integrate local avionics, defence and combat systems. Initial work was conducted in Sweden before migrating to a dedicated Gripen Flight Test Centre established at the SAAF's Test Flight Development Centre near Bredasdorp in the Southern Cape.

An important milestone

"Delivery of the first Gripen aircraft is an important milestone in what has been a challenging and exciting programme. South Africa was our first export customer for Gripen. It's recognition of Gripen's capabilities and faith in Saab has inspired other new Gripen customers, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, the UK's Empire Test Pilot School and more recently, Thailand. We are also in discussion with several other countries, all of which are looking closely at the performance of the aircraft and Saab in South Africa," explained Saab President and CEO, �ke Svensson.

South Africa's first Gripen aircraft (SA01) first flew in November 2005 at Link�ping, Sweden. It was transferred to South Africa in July 2006 and engaged in a South Africa-specific flight test programme which was completed in January 2008. South Africa aircraft deliveries will continue progressively from now until 2012.