The Swedish air force has completed its first base-battalion dispersed-operations exercise involving a squadron of Saab JAS39 Gripen aircraft, clearing the final hurdle to declaring the aircraft combat ready. According to the air force, the existing JAS39 Operational Test and Evaluation Unit will officially become the first combat-ready Gripen squadron within weeks of the exercise being completed. Number 2 squadron, of the Såtenäs-based F7 Gripen training and conversion wing, will then be declared operational early in 1998. The exercise was watched by senior Brazilian air staff. The Gripen is being marketed in Brazil as a potential replacement for that country's Mirage IIIs and F-5s.
Source: Flight International
