The first Brazilian Air Force Gripen E fighter jet arrived in Brazil on September 20 after a month-long voyage from Norrkoping, Sweden, where it was built by Saab.
F-39, as the first of the 36 units that the Brazilian Air Force will receive has been named, arrived at the port of Navegantes, in Santa Catarina aboard general cargo vessel MV Elke. It is scheduled to be formally handed over to the Brazilian government next year, following an in-country flight test campaign.
The aircraft’s next station is the Gripen Design and Development Network (GDDN) in the municipality of Gavião Peixoto, where Saab and the Brazilian Air Force have set up the Gripen Flight Test Center (GFTC).
Brazil is buying 36 Gripen E and F models of aircraft under a contract from 2014. Gripen E deliveries will start in 2021 and Gripen F in 2023.
Gripen components are also being produced locally in Brazil, at the Saab Aeronáutica Montagens plant. This site builds sections of the new Gripen E/F fighter, which will then be delivered to the final assembly facilities at the Embraer plant in Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo, Brazil and to Linköping, Sweden. Starting in 2021, the complete aircraft assembly of 15 aircraft will begin in Brazil.
