Overview
- Saab presented the first Gripen F, a two-seat version of the Gripen E family, at its Linköping facility on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, for delivery to the Brazilian Air Force.
- The Gripen F keeps the single-seat jet’s sensors and combat systems while adding an independent rear cockpit so an instructor can fly live conversion missions inside a fully operational fighter.
- Before handover the jet will undergo a focused flight-test campaign at Saab’s Flight Test Centre in Sweden, with Brazil remaining the launch customer under a 2014 contract for 36 aircraft of which 11 have been delivered to date.
- Swedish officials have said Brazil could buy roughly 20 more Gripens, a prospect that Saab hopes will be matched by a planned production ramp-up but which has not yet been formalized in a contract.
- The program embeds deep industrial cooperation: Brazil co‑developed the F through transfer‑of‑technology that trained hundreds of engineers and technicians, and Saab is marketing the F to other buyers including Thailand and Colombia while exploring further export and local production ties.