Saab is entering into contract discussions with Thailand over a proposed purchase of Gripen E/F combat aircraft, as the Swedish manufacturer eyes additional international sales opportunities.
“We had good news from Thailand that they had downselected the Gripen E, and now we are moving into a process of negotiating a contract,” Saab chief executive Micael Johansson said during the company’s third-quarter results call on 22 October.
Existing Gripen C/D operator the Royal Thai Air Force on 27 August confirmed its selection of the Gripen E/F as “most suitable to protect our nation’s interest”, following a contest also involving the Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70/72. Bangkok’s requirement is for a dozen aircraft, believed to include a pair of two-seat Gripen Fs.
“We see a big interest in the Gripen E,” Johansson says. Peru recently approved a budget allocation to procure 24 combat aircraft, with a competition launch expected soon, and the Colombian government also is waiting to begin a similar process. The airframer also continues to see interest from existing customer Brazil in a potential follow-on buy.
Elsewhere, the single-engined type also is among contenders for a 40-aircraft requirement with the Philippine air force.
Saab delivered an undisclosed number of Gripen Es to existing customers Brazil and Sweden during the third quarter, the company says.
Meanwhile, Johansson says the US Department of Justice’s 10 October step to subpoena the airframer over Brazil’s decade-old purchase of 36 Gripen E/Fs “was a surprise”.
“We will of course collaborate with the authorities and provide the information as they request,” he says. “We have done that before with the Swedish and Brazilian authorities, and no wrongdoings have emerged from that.”
Cirium fleets data indicates that the Brazilian air force has so far received eight of its eventual 28 locally designated F-39E fighters. The service also will field eight two-seat F-model examples, under a contract signed in 2014.
