Saab Gripen E Conducts Missile Firing, Fuel Tank Drop Tests

The Gripen E fighter jet of Saab has completed tests to verify the ability to release and launch external payloads by jettisoning an external fuel drop tank and firing of an IRIS-T air-to-air missile.

Conducted by the first Gripen E test aircraft (designated 39-8), the tests took place in October 2018 at Vidsel Test Range in the north of Sweden.

 “The tests bring us closer to making the aircraft ready for its operational use”, says Marcus Wandt, Experimental Gripen Test Pilot at Saab.

“I am pleased to see the aircraft behaving and performing according to our expectations. We are making good progress towards delivery (of the aircraft) to our Swedish and Brazilian customers”, says Jonas Hjelm, Senior Vice President and Head of Saab business area Aeronautics.

These tests are the latest steps in the Gripen E flight test programme preceded by the carriage trials in July and forms part of the weapon integration work.

Gripen E has weapons for all types of missions, such as stand-off precision strike using guided glide bombs, heavy anti-ship and deep strike missiles, to long-range and agile air-to-air missiles such as Meteor.

Gripen E can also carry pods and sensors for reconnaissance and special missions. To give air forces a wide choice of operational capabilities, Gripen E is designed to enable quick integration of various weapons. This is partly made possible by Gripen E’s flexible avionic architecture.