Photo: Saab
If I were to ask you to think about a fighter jet, you'd probably imagine the mighty F-16. That's what popped into the heads of many of America's allies as well in recent years, making the Fighting Falcon the most widespread fighter jet ever made. But there are some nations in this world that chose another path, fueled by the extraordinary abilities of military planes that are not produced in the US.
One of the most popular non-American fighter jets is the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Flying since 1988, the plane has been deployed in various variants by countries on three continents, and its reach is about to grow a bit more now that a version called F-39E is here.
The plane has been on active duty since late 2022 as a single seater powered by a single GE engine that delivers 22.000 pounds of thrust, allowing it to reach speeds of 1,534 mph (2,469 kph, or twice the speed of sound).
Despite being in the air for almost two years now, the F-39E is a true noob when it comes to taking part in massive military exercises. That changed this month, when the largest operational air exercise in the Southern Hemisphere, the CRUZEX 2024, kicked off at the Natal Air Base in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
CRUZEX started on November 3, and will end this coming weekend. During the two weeks of military exercises, 2,000 military personnel from South and North America, Africa and Europe engaged in war games accompanied by over 100 combat aircraft. And the F-39E Gripen is part of them, in its first participation in a multinational military exercise.
Described as "the most advanced fighter in service in Latin America," the Gripen had to conduct friendly forces protection missions, and a series of other air operations at the hands of the pilots from Brazil's 1st Air Defence Group, the first unit to use the plane in the country.
It’s unclear whether the plane carried any weapons on any of its ten hardpoints, but all the other gear it comes equipped with, and makes the plane the most advanced of its kind (including the Active Electronically Scanned Array radar and the Infra-Red Search and Track passive targeting sensor), was used intensively.
Brazil is poised to become, along with the plane's home country Sweden, the largest operator of Gripen fighter jets. The South American nation placed an order for 28 of these babies back in 2014, and we learned in the spring of last year that a good portion of that, namely 15 planes, will be made at the Embraer plant in Gaviao Peixoto.
The Brazilian Air Force is expected to receive the first home-made Gripens over the course of next year.
The plane has been on active duty since late 2022 as a single seater powered by a single GE engine that delivers 22.000 pounds of thrust, allowing it to reach speeds of 1,534 mph (2,469 kph, or twice the speed of sound).
Despite being in the air for almost two years now, the F-39E is a true noob when it comes to taking part in massive military exercises. That changed this month, when the largest operational air exercise in the Southern Hemisphere, the CRUZEX 2024, kicked off at the Natal Air Base in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
CRUZEX started on November 3, and will end this coming weekend. During the two weeks of military exercises, 2,000 military personnel from South and North America, Africa and Europe engaged in war games accompanied by over 100 combat aircraft. And the F-39E Gripen is part of them, in its first participation in a multinational military exercise.
Described as "the most advanced fighter in service in Latin America," the Gripen had to conduct friendly forces protection missions, and a series of other air operations at the hands of the pilots from Brazil's 1st Air Defence Group, the first unit to use the plane in the country.
It’s unclear whether the plane carried any weapons on any of its ten hardpoints, but all the other gear it comes equipped with, and makes the plane the most advanced of its kind (including the Active Electronically Scanned Array radar and the Infra-Red Search and Track passive targeting sensor), was used intensively.
Brazil is poised to become, along with the plane's home country Sweden, the largest operator of Gripen fighter jets. The South American nation placed an order for 28 of these babies back in 2014, and we learned in the spring of last year that a good portion of that, namely 15 planes, will be made at the Embraer plant in Gaviao Peixoto.
The Brazilian Air Force is expected to receive the first home-made Gripens over the course of next year.
Google News