Saab JAS-39 Gripen
A two-seat Gripen
Description
Role	Swing-role combat aircraft (Fight, Attack, Maritime attack, Reconnaissance)
Crew	1 or 2
First Flight	9 dec 1988
Entered Service	1996
Manufacturer	Saab-Scania
Dimensions
Length	14.1 m
Wingspan	8.4 m
Height	4.5 m
Wing area	25.54 m²	274.9 ft²
Weights
Empty	6620 kg
Loaded	8720 kg
Maximum takeoff	14000 kg
Powerplant
Engines	One Volvo Aero RM12 (GE404) afterburning turbofan
Thrust	54 dry, 80 kN afterburn
Performance
Maximum speed	Mach 2 at altitude
Combat range (max load)	500 miles	800 km
Service ceiling	50,000 ft	15,000 m
Rate of climb	ft/min	m/min
Thrust/weight	6.2 N/kg
Avionics
Avionics
Armament
Armament	27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon 6 AIM-9 Sidewinder, 4 AIM-120 AMRAAM; or MICA Air-to-ground weapons include: AGM-65 Maverick, KEPD 150, Various laser guided bombs, rocket pods, etc. Air-to-sea weapons include: Rb15F It will be the first fighter to test the new MBDA Meteor missile system Saab Gripen. ... Volvo Aero, a subsidiary of Swedish company Volvo, develops and manufactures components for aircraft and rocket engines with high technology content in co-operation with the world’s leading engine manufacturers. ... The BK 27 (also BK27 or BK-27) (Translation: Board Cannon) is a 27 mm autocannon manufactured by Mauser (currently part of Rheinmetall). ... Sidewinder Missile The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried by fighter aircraft. ... The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced am-ram), commonly known to air crews as the Slammer, is a modern air-to-air missile (AAM). ... rock with mica Mica sheet mica flakes The mica group of minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. ... The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-surface tactical missile (ASM) designed for close air support, prohibition, and forceful prevention. ... A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a free-fall bomb, usually dropped from an aircraft, that is guided to its target by a laser designator The laser is directed at the target, illuminating it. ... The MBDA Meteor is a highly agile long-range air-to-air guided missile for future complex beyond-visual-range (BVR) threat scenarios. ...

The Saab JAS-39 "Gripen" (Griffin) is a fighter aircraft from Sweden manufactured by Saab. The fighters are sold by the Gripen International corporation, a joint venture between Saab and BAE Systems. Roman griffin, Turkey The griffin (also spelled gryphon, gryphen, griffon, griffen, or gryphin) is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle with the addition of prominent ears, traditionally termed asss ears. The female has the wings of an eagle. ... A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... Saab is an aircraft and automobile concern based in Sweden, founded 1937 in Linköping. ... BAE Systems, plc is the worlds fourth largest defense contractor [2] and a commercial aerospace products manufacturer. ...

The Gripen is designed for the expected high demands on flying performance, flexibility, effectiveness, survivability, and availability for the future of air combat. The designation JAS stands for Jakt (Fighter), Attack (Attack), and Spaning (Reconnaissance), indicating that the Gripen is a multirole aircraft that can fulfill each mission type equally well.

Flying properties and performance are optimised for fighter missions with high demands on speed, acceleration and turning performance. The combination of delta wing and canards gives the JAS 39 Gripen very good take off and landing performance and superb flying characteristics. The totally integrated avionics makes it a "programmable" aircraft. With the built in flexibility and development potential the whole JAS 39 Gripen system will retain and enhance its effectiveness and potential well into the 21st century. The delta-wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. ... In aeronautics, canard (French for duck) is a type of fixed-wing aircraft in which the tailplane is ahead of the main lifting surfaces, rather than behind them as in conventional aircraft. ... The onboard electronics used for piloting an aircraft are called avionics(AVI-ation electr-ONICS). ...

Gripen affords far more flexibility than earlier generations of combat aircraft, and its operating costs will only be about two thirds of those for Viggen. This is especially impressive as the Gripen is a more capable aircraft, with a low purchase price. The Saab Viggen (Thunder Bolt or Bolt ¹) or Saab 37 is a Swedish fighter aircraft manufactured between 1970 and 1990 to replace the Saab Draken (Dragon). ...

The specifications for the Gripen required the ability to operate from 800 m runways. Early on in the programme, all flights from Saab's facility in Linköping were flown from within a 9 m x 800 m outline painted on the runway. Stopping distance is reduced by extending the relatively large airbrakes; using the control surfaces to push the aircraft down enabling the brakes to apply more force; and tilting the canards forwards, making them into large airbrakes. Aerial picture of a runway of Chennai International Airport, Tamil Nadu A runway is a strip of land on an airport, on which aircraft can take off and land. ... Linköping in Sweden Aerial photo of Linköping. ... In aeronautics air brakes are a type of flight control used on aircraft to reduce speed during landing. ...

In designing the aircraft, several layouts were studied. Saab ultimately selected an unstable canard layout to give the greatest benefits to performance. The canard configuration gives a high onset of pitch rate and low drag enabling the aircraft to be faster, have longer range, and carry a larger useful payload. Flight dynamics is the study of orientation of air and space vehicles and how to control the critical flight parameters, typically named pitch, roll and yaw. ... For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external fluid flow. ... In cargo transport, the payload is the valuable contents of the vehicle. ...

Already in operational service with the Swedish Air Force which has ordered 204 aircraft (including 28 dual-seater), the Gripen has also been ordered by the South African Air Force (28 aircraft), Hungary and the Czech Republic (14 aircraft each). The Swedish Air Force, or Flygvapnet, is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces, the military of Sweden. ... SAAF flag The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the Air Force of South Africa. ...

The aircraft cost US$ 25 million in 1998. The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Crashes

In all, four Gripens have crashed, two of them before the delivery to the Swedish Air Force. This is by no means an extreme number for this kind of aircraft; as a comparison, the test series of Viggen saw seven crashes. However, the first two Gripen crashes were recorded on video and ended up being shown many times on Swedish national television. As a result, a large part of the Swedish public got a skewed perception of the aircraft and came to consider Gripen to be dangerous and unreliable, as well as a waste of tax money and a general embarrasment. The aircraft has yet to completely shed this undeserved reputation, although the successful sales of the plane to several foreign militaries have perhaps helped restore the Swedish public's trust in the plane. The Swedish Air Force, or Flygvapnet, is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces, the military of Sweden. ... The Saab Viggen (Thunder Bolt or Bolt ¹) or Saab 37 is a Swedish fighter aircraft manufactured between 1970 and 1990 to replace the Saab Draken (Dragon). ... Sveriges Television (SVT) is a national publicly-funded television broadcaster based in Sweden. ...

• In February 1989 the first prototype crashed on its sixth flight when landing in Linköping. The accident was filmed by a crew from Sveriges Television's Aktuellt. The pilot remained in the tumbling aircraft but was not injured.
• In August 1993 a Gripen crashed on the central Stockholm island of Långholmen during an air show. The pilot, the same man as in 1989, ejected safely. No one on the ground was seriously injured.
• In September 1999 a Gripen from airwing F7 at Såtenäs crashed into lake Vänern during a dog-fight exercise. After passing through the wake vortex of the other plane, the aircraft abruptly changed course and the pilot got a warning from the ground-collision warning system that a crash was imminent. In accordance with the flight instruction he therefore left the aircraft and landed safely by parachute.
• In June 2005 a Gripen from airwing F17 at Kallinge apparently ceased to obey commands from the pilot. After attempting to regain control while the aircraft slowly descended, the pilot finally left the aircraft and landed safely by parachute. The cause of the accident is still to be determined.

Linköping in Sweden Aerial photo of Linköping. ... Sveriges Television (SVT) is a national publicly-funded television broadcaster based in Sweden. ... Opening title of Aktuellt, used since December 6, 2004. ... The Old town in Stockholm from the air ▶(?) is the capital of Sweden, located on the east coast at the entrance of lake Mälaren. ... The Utterly Butterly wing_walking display team flying Boeing Stearman PT_17 biplanes An airshow is an event at which aviators display their flying skills, normally to the public, but occasionally to invited guests, or employees and their families only. ... Map of Sweden; Vänern in the middle south. ... Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) is the art of maneuvering a combat aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. ... Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) is a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground. ...

Trivia

• The Swedish Flygvapenmuseum Air Force Museum in Linköping has a real Gripen simulator that can be tried by the public (fees apply).

• The JAS-39 is featured in the Video Game 'Ace Combat 5' as the JAS-39C variant.

The Swedish Air Force Museum (in Swedish Flygvapenmuseum) is located in Linköping. ...

External links

• Saab Gripen - Official website
• Saab Gripen links - dmoz

See also

• Comparison of 21st century fighter aircraft
• List of military aircraft of Sweden

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This is a list of Swedish military aircraft since its start. ...