JAS 39 Gripen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| JAS 39 Gripen | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Multirole fighter |
| Manufacturer | Saab |
| Maiden flight | 9 December 1988 |
| Introduced | 9 June 1996 |
| Status | Active service |
| Primary users | Swedish Air Force South African Air Force Hungarian Air Force Czech Air Force |
| Number built | 184 delivered as of September 2006 232 ordered |
| Unit cost | US$ 25 million (1998) US$ 45 to 50 million (2006) |
The Saab JAS 39 "Gripen" (Griffin) is a fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. The aircraft is in service with the Swedish Air Force and the Czech Republic Air Force and has been ordered by the Hungarian Air Force and South African Air Force.
Gripen International acts as a prime contracting organization and is responsible for marketing, selling and supporting the Gripen fighter around the world.
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[edit] Development
The Gripen is designed for performance, flexibility, effectiveness and survivability in air combat. The designation JAS stands for Jakt (Air-to-Air), Attack (Air-to-Surface), and Spaning (Reconnaissance), indicating that the Gripen is a multirole aircraft that can fulfill each mission type.
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 good take off and landing performance and flying characteristics. The totally integrated avionics make it a "programmable" aircraft.
Gripen affords far more flexibility than earlier generations of combat aircraft, and its operating costs will only be about two thirds of those for JA 37 Viggen. This is especially impressive as the Gripen is a more capable aircraft, with a low purchase price.
Gripen has a built in electronic warfare unit making it possible to load more ordnance on to the plane without losing self defence capabilities.
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 wheel brakes to apply more force; and tilting the canards forwards, making them into large airbrakes and further pushing the aircraft down.
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.
Gripen is already in operational service with the Swedish Air Force which has ordered 204 aircraft (including 28 dual-seater). The Czech Air Force and the Hungarian Air Force (14 ex Swedish Air Force aircraft each). The Czech and the Hungarian Air Force are the first Gripen operators within NATO. Gripen has also been ordered by the South African Air Force (28 aircraft). The British based Empire Test Pilots’ School (ETPS) is operating Gripen as its advanced fast jet platform for test pilots worldwide.
The Chilean Air Force and the Brazilian Air Force have showed interest in the JAS 39 Gripen but both air forces delayed any involvement though Chile is certainly interested for the fighter to go with their F-16's and upgraded Mirage 5's (called Elkans and Panteras) to compliment their already strong air force.
[edit] BAE Systems involvement
In 1995 Saab Military Aircraft and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems) formed the joint venture company Saab-BAe Gripen AB, with the goal of adapting, manufacturing, marketing and supporting Gripen internationally. The deal was to take advantage of BAe's global marketing experience. BAe designed an improved wing, which they manufactured, and they produced around 45% of export airframes. BAe also saw the Gripen as a complementary product to its existing aircraft, fitting between its Hawk light attack/trainer and the larger Tornado and Typhoon fighters. This co-operation was extended in 2001 with the formation of Gripen International for the same purpose.
In December 2004 SAAB and BAE agreed that from January 2005 SAAB would take full responsibility for marketing of the Gripen in light of SAAB's increased export marketing capabilities.
[edit] Trivia
Gripen got its name in a public competition in 1982. The griffin is the heraldry on Saab's logo and suited the multi-role characteristics of the aircraft.
[edit] Crashes
Four Gripens have crashed, two of them before the delivery to the Swedish Air Force. While this is by no means an extreme number for this kind of aircraft; (as a comparison, the test series of Viggen saw seven crashes), the public setting of the first two crashes initially gave Gripen a bad public image as being unsafe.
- In February 1989 the first prototype crashed on its sixth flight when landing in Linköping. The accident was filmed in a now famous recording by a crew from Sveriges Television's Aktuellt. The pilot remained in the tumbling aircraft and escaped alive with only a broken arm.
- In August 1993 a Gripen crashed on the central Stockholm island of Långholmen during a low altitude, low speed manoeuver at an air show. The same pilot, Lars Rådeström, as in the 1989 incident ejected safely. Despite large crowds standing by watching, no one on the ground was seriously injured. The cause of these first two crashes was pilot-induced oscillation.
- In September 1999 a Gripen from airwing F 7 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. He ejected from the aircraft and landed safely by parachute.
- In June 2005 a Gripen from airwing F 17 at Kallinge apparently ceased to obey commands from the pilot. After attempting to regain control while the aircraft slowly descended, the pilot ejected from the aircraft and landed safely by parachute. The cause of the accident is still to be determined.
[edit] Specifications (JAS 39 Gripen)
General characteristics
- Crew: 1-2
- Length: 14.1 m (46 ft 3 in)
- Wingspan: 8.4 m (27 ft 7 in)
- Height: 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 25.54 m (274.9 ft)
- Empty weight: 6,620 kg (14,600 lb)
- Loaded weight: 8,720 kg (19,200 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 14,000 kg (31,000 lb)
- Powerplant: 1× Volvo Aero RM12 (GE404) afterburning turbofan, 54 kN dry, 80 kN with afterburner (12,000 lbf / 18,100 lbf)
- Wheel track: 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
Performance
- Maximum speed: Mach 2
- Range: Combat radius of action with air-to-surface and enhanced self-defence weapons: >1200km (>650Nm) (750 mi)
- Service ceiling: 15,000 m (50,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)
- Wing loading: 341 kg/m² (70,3 lb/ft²)
- Thrust/weight: 0.94
Armament
- 1x 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon
- 6x AIM-9 Sidewinder (Swedish designation Rb-74) or IRIS-T (Swedish designation Rb-98)
- 4x AIM-120 AMRAAM (Swedish designation Rb-99), BAe Skyflash (Swedish designation Rb-71 Skyflash), MICA or Meteor
- AGM-65 Maverick (Swedish designation Rb-75), KEPD 150, or various other laser-guided bombs, rocket pods.
- RBS-15 Mark 2 air-to-sea anti-ship missile
- Bombkapsel 90 cluster bomb
[edit] Gallery
 Farnborough, 2006, static display |
 Farnborough, 2006, taxiing in after display |
 Farnborough, 2006, closeup |
[edit] External links
- Saab Gripen - Official website
- Saab Gripen links - dmoz
- SAAB GRIPEN at Greg Goebel's AIR VECTORS
- Crash video News footage from SVT of the 1989 and 1993 crashes (in Swedish).
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