EU-BRAZIL Investment Dialogue

Gripen Fighter Makes Its First Takeoff

The first Gripen fighter in the F version, designed for a crew of two, performed its maiden flight on the morning of last Friday (August 28), at the facilities of Swedish manufacturer Saab in Linköping. The aircraft, developed over five years in partnership with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), Embraer, and other national companies, completed a 40-minute trip without incidents—a symbolic milestone of a program that Saab itself describes as the fruit of the joint development of both countries.

The contract, signed in 2014 for the acquisition of 36 aircraft between single-seat and two-seat models, is considered the largest export contract ever signed by Sweden and represents, for Brazil, the largest industrial technology transfer program of recent years. The offset agreement linked to the purchase currently brings together more than 60 projects, including the installation of a Saab aerostructures factory in São Bernardo do Campo and sending more than 350 Brazilian engineers and technicians for training on Swedish soil, moving values that already exceed nine billion dollars.

Embraer’s plant in Gavião Peixoto (SP), responsible for part of the national assembly, will also supply aircraft to Colombia in a 3.1 billion euro deal closed at the end of 2025, highlighting that the industrial capacity built from the partnership with Saab began to project Brazil as a regional production hub.

Read more at: https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2026/08/caca-gripen-para-dois-pilotos-faz-voo-inaugural-na-suecia-veja-video.shtml