Two Swedish Air Force JAS-39 Gripen-Ds departed Sweden on Sunday and are on their way to India as we speak for the final round of the field evaluation trials (FET) under the Indian medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) competition. The Gripens begin their trials at the Aircraft Systems & Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bangalore early this week. The Gripen-Ds are being flown by Saab test pilots and Swedish air force pilots.
“IAF test pilots have already undergone intensive training on the aircraft and the aircraft have already undergone the first stage of trials in Linkoping in November 2009, which included flight performance, logistics capability, weapons systems, advanced sensors and weapons firing,” said Gripen India campaign head Eddy de la Motte in response to an e-mail I sent in to Saab.
Asked about whether the Gripen Demo aircraft — on which the Gripen IN is based (see here) — would figure in the trials at all, de la Motte said, “The Demo is a development vehicle which the IAF will have complete access to within the current parameters of development. Gripen NG capabilities have been demonstrated during the evaluation trials in November 2009 when the Indian evaluation team was in Sweden.“
The absence of the NG tech demonstrator could be a substantial problem in the campaign, though there is talk that Saab may be cut some discretionary slack on a practical basis — the rationale doing the rounds apparently is that the availability of the NG for flight trials within India does not come in the way of the IAF’s perception of it being an excellent airplane, and is not nearly enough to bump Saab just yet from the sweepstakes. Would be a shame if the Gripen lost out because of non-availability of the Demo airplane.
I took a test flight in a Gripen-D in October 2009 at Linkoping, Sweden. Click here to read about my flight.
Best of luck to them. lets have either this or the EF.
Say not to Amirkhan products!
so the NG demo aircraft is not coming for the trials..I wonder how they'll evaluate the Gripen D and then compare it to the NG which has different engine and increased weight.
I know, not many people will like this, but I seriously wish to see MRCA order split between a single engine and a double engine ones. Single engine for the Gripen NG and a Euro canard for the double engine. There is also a talk that final number might increase from the present 128 to more than 150. So a split of 100 Gripens and remaining euro canards will be a good balance.
@ venu…any specific reasoning behind the suggestion for two different families and associated peripherals???
If only this plane flew on EJ200 it would have been the most suitable.
According to the DPP, the OEM should provide the proposed version of the product and not and older one.
Gripen D and Gripen IN NG aren't similar at all…
Competitors will appreciate this mistake!
I don't want any of these
I want hundreds of LCAs
I don't want any of these
I want hundreds of LCAs
————————–
well, LCA is not MCA, IAF is seeking MCA.
I think one american and one europeon product will come and the count will go around 200 or more.LCA's should come but by the time 50 LCA will come 50 or more of these selected fighters would have been inducted in IAF.
Why i can't say, its all over for gripen?
@ Anon 1:39- It is a simple balance of numbers, cost, technology and Geo-politics.
Everyone knew that Euro canards are best technologically but are costly. We can benefit politically to some extent as well. whereas Gripen is relatively cheap, technologically superior. Even though Sweden has nothing to offer, that should not be a hinder ones appreciation of quality. Beleive me, and ofc Shiv, Gripen NG is a marvelous jet which when completed and inducted will be a potent platform and IAF pilots will like it.
Even though US has lots of tech stuff to offer, we cannot trust him. A good enemy is better than a cunning friend.
Even though the Russian MiG-35 is touted as a very good platform, it is yet to come out and is some time away from production. Also I dont think Russians will worry too much if they lose in MRCA as they have lot more in pipeline than to worry.
Did that leave any other option?
People might say that split may create a logistical problem. But tell me when did that not happend. It happend when Mirages were inducted, Mig-29's were inducted. So if you see, when ever a new instrument is inducted, it will take some time to get used to it. As the time goes, every thing will iron out.
Mind the spellings and grammar. Typed it when my manager was around. Got no time to spell check.
@ venu….
beg to differ…
two different platforms involves two sets of maintenance , preparation and the actual flying of course….
unless we look at deploying them in different roles…there is not real reason to choose the second best
Wrong spelling will not be tolerated here :P..lolz
Why bring the Grippen-D when the product on offer is the Grippen-NG ?
Becuase the Gripen NG Demo is currently being evaluated by SwAF and i dont think it has been certified to fly abroad. sadly 🙁
BETTER TO TAKE US F18 WITH MORE ADVANCE ELECTRONICS ….
….. DO WE USE ANY OF THIS WAREQUITMENT ……????