Farnborough Show News - July 14, 2008 - (Page 78)

FA R N B O R O U G H 2 0 0 8 Saab’s Gripen Demo: Herald of a New Era On April 23, Saab rolled out the Gripen Demon- time, the two efforts merged. Eddy de la Motte, strator—Gripen Demo for short—opening an an original kitchen table “Friend of the Gripen” entirely new phase in the Gripen saga. Just over and now Gripen program director in India, a month later, on May 27, the jet flew for the first remembered “The initiative for the Demo and time at the hands of test pilots Mikael Seidl and NG came entirely from industry, pushing the new Magnus Ljungdahl. They have been flying it ever aircraft and its capabilities. However, the timing coincided with the Swedish Air Force’s own since. Although the Demo looks little different from thoughts on a Gripen midlife the outside, the advances it introduces are pro- update (MLU). We said, ‘Why found. With a new engine and a redesigned would you consider an MLU internal structure it can fly farther and faster. It when you can have this.’” In October 2007, the Swecarries more fuel and more weapons, and delivers its payload with greater accuracy than ever. dish government signed a The Gripen’s credentials as a smart, networked SEK3.9 billion (U.S. $611 milcombat platform— the best in service anywhere lion) two-part contract. One today— are taken to a new level with an active element covered a crucial nearelectronically scanned array (AESA) radar, secure term upgrade to Sweden’s own high-speed datalinks and a formidable electronic warfare and selfFirst flight on May 27. defense capability. The Demo development program will feed an entirely new production standard—the Gripen NG (Next Generation). The NG will become the baseline for Gripen operations by the middle of the next decade. Five days after the Demo rollout, in an extraordinary coincidence of timing, Saab submitted its offers to India and Norway for their nextin May 2007; it was installed successfully on the first attempt. The most obvious difference of the Demo aircraft is its new landing gear configuration. The main gear has been moved outboard from the fuselage to the wing root, where it now retracts into streamlined fairings. Repositioning the gear Saab’s Gripen Demo rolled out on April 23. “The initiative for the Demo and NG came entirely from industry, pushing the new aircraft and its capabilities. However, the timing coincided with the Swedish Air Force’s own thoughts on a Gripen midlife update (MLU). We said, ‘Why would you consider an MLU when you can have this.’” —Eddy de la Motte, an original kitchen table “Friend of the Gripen” and now Gripen program director in India. generation combat aircraft requirements. The Gripen Demo and NG projects are at the heart of Saab’s Gripen N (Norway) and IN (India) proposals. Both countries are of seismic importance: India, because of the scale of its planned purchase, and Norway because it might become the first JSF partner to reject Lockheed Martin’s F-35. Saab’s next-generation Gripen started as an after-hours project in a test pilot’s kitchen. During 2004, a team of pilots and engineers got together and started to sketch out their thoughts on where their aircraft could go. Saab had its own Gripen System Development Program and, in 78 Gripen force. The second part secured the Demo program with government funding. In fact, the future Gripen program was already running at full speed on Saab’s dime. When Saab CEO Ake Svensson formally unveiled the Gripen Demo project to the world at the 2007 Paris Air Show, work on the actual Demo aircraft had already been under way for more than a year. The changes to the Demo aircraft are many and varied. The jet has been re-engined with a General Electric F414-GE-400 turbofan. Modified for single-engine use, the F414G delivers 25% more power than the current RM12 engine. GE delivered the first F414G to Saab frees up invaluable space that has been used to increase the fuel load. Moving the landing gear allows two new ventral hardpoints to be added. Both pylons are wet and can carry fuel if required, but the other main boost to the Gripen’s increased total fuel capacity is provided by new 450 U.S. gallon underwing drop tanks. Altogether, the Gripen NG will have about 2,000 kg of extra fuel to play with. In 2009, the Demo aircraft will fly with a new AESA radar, developed by Saab Microwave Systems and Thales. This combines the active array of the Thales RBE2-AA with the existing signal data processor and exciter/receiver of the Gripen’s PS-05/A radar. This radar is not the finished product that will appear in the final NG design but—like all Demo functions—it will be used to prove the basic capability. A new liquidcooling system has been installed. Other equipment includes a satcom link for worldwide connectivity, a broadband “strike” datalink (real-time video targeting for close air support), a completely new missile approach warning system (MAW, one of the first for a tactical jet) and a next-generation electronic warfare system (Saab Avitronic’s EWS39-3). Flight trials will run into early 2010. By mid2009 the aircraft will be fitted with its new mission systems—AESA, MAW etc.—for a second phase of test work. 2009 will also see flight trials with new weapons including the GBU-39/A Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). —Robert Hewson July 14, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Farnborough Show News - July 14, 2008

Farnborough Show News - July 14, 2008 Contents Thirty More Years CFM Reveals New Engine Boeing Reduces Forecast UAVs’ Quiet Revolution Finmeccanica: U.S. Success A Plethora of AESAs BAE North America Plus L-3 Becomes a Prime Better Late Than Never A Peek Behind the Curtain China’s J-10 Revealed Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner Breaking LM’s Hegemony

Farnborough Show News - July 14, 2008

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