Saab Pulls Gripen Out Of Danish Fighter Jet Bid

Saab has declined to bid for $4.37 billion Danish fighter contract while reports indicate that US firm Lockheed Martin is set to land the deal, The Local.se reported.

Three candidates are officially in the running to receive one of Denmark’s biggest public purchases of all time when the military purchases new fighter jets by July 1st 2015. 

It was expected that four producers would provide bids for the contract, but the Swedish government and weapons producer Saab decided at the last moment to not bid for the contract.

Saab withdrew from the bid process thinking that the Denmark has already decided to purchase F-35 jets from the US Lockheed Martin.

On Monday the bidding period to provide Denmark with new fighter jets ended.

The Danish military is prepared to spend roughly $5.4 billion to replace its fleet of F-16 jets.

The other two contenders for the contract are Eurofighter Typhoon from Airbus Defense and Space and the F/A-18F Super Hornet produced by Boeing.

There too, the Joint Strike Fighter looks likely to come out on top. In addition to the US military, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, UK, Italy, Australia, Korea and Japan have also purchased the F-35s. 

The Eurofighter Typhoon has been purchased by Germany, Italy, the UK, Austria, Spain and Saudi Arabia, while the US Navy and Australia have purchased the Super Hornet.