By Jon Lake
Saab chose the Paris Air Show to reveal details of its new Gripen Demonstrator programme. The Gripen Demo aircraft will act as a technology demonstrator and testbed for an upgrade configuration for the Swedish air force, and as the prototype for planned ‘Future Gripens’, including the Gripen N for Norway, the Gripen DK for Denmark, and perhaps even for a variant to meet India’s MMRCA requirement.
The programme is planned to “keep Gripen at the leading edge of fighter aircraft performance and capability, well beyond 2040”, according to Gripen International’s managing director, Johan Lehander.
The Gripen Demo aircraft will have a revised configuration, with a new forward-retracting main landing gear that frees up internal volume for extra fuel, and with distinctive bulged wingroot fairings underwing providing further increases in internal volume. The use of these fairings replaces the upper fuselage conformal tanks seen on previous studies, and will provide an extra 38% of internal fuel, taking the total to 3,130 kg.
The relocated and beefed-up undercarriage will allow a 2-tonne increase in maximum take off weight, to 16t. This in turn will allow the aircraft to carrier heavier warloads (up to 6,000kg), and to facilitate this, the Gripen Demo will have new side by side under-fuselage pylons (augmenting the single centreline pylon) and underwing hardpoints capable of carrying twin pylons.
The aircraft will be powered by a new 22,000lb engine, provisionally dubbed the F414G. This is based on the General Electric F414-GE-400 engine that powers the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, with full authority digital electronic control software for enhanced safety and reliability.
The F414 engine is a derivative of the original F404 - the existing Gripen engine, the RM-12, is a variant – and combines proven reliability, maintainability and operability with advanced technology. The F414G will deliver some 4,000lb more thrust than the RM-12, giving a useful boost in performance. Some sources give the new engine a 26,000lb thrust rating – doubling the advantage.
The aircraft will also be fitted with an AESA radar, probably based on Ericsson’s long-running NORA and Saab/Selex’ M-AESA programmes.
Sweden has a requirement to upgrade some 31 early Gripens to C/D standards, but it may now leapfrog a generation and be upgraded to a standard similar to the Gripen Demo.
Source: Flight Daily News
