Reply With QuoteRumours about a downselect of Rafale and Typhoon for MMRCA in India.
Rumours about a downselect of Rafale and Typhoon for MMRCA in India.
A goddamn shame if true
Do the Swedish Airforce want the NG model or what do they want?
SAAB
Gripen not on the shortlist for the Indian MMRCA programme
27 April 2011, in Press Release
Today defence and security company Saab AB has received information from the Indian Ministry of Defence that Gripen has not been shortlisted for the Indian Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme.
”We are offering India a world class next generation fighter aircraft to a very competitive price and an extensive technology transfer programme. We have received this decision and will closely monitor the future process and provide additional information if requested by the Indian Ministry of Defence. We are confident that the Gripen system is the perfect match for the Indian Air Force as well as meeting the highest requirements for the international markets,” says Håkan Buskhe, President and CEO at Saab.
India is one of Saab’s most important markets. For example, Saab recently announced an investment in a research and development centre in India.
“We are committed to the Indian market and continue our plans for growth and see huge business opportunities in the aerospace, defence and security sectors,” says Håkan Buskhe.
Gripen is in service with the Swedish, Czech Republic, Hungarian, South African and Royal Thai Air Forces. The UK Empire Test Pilots’ School (ETPS) is operating Gripen as its advanced fast jet platform for test pilots worldwide.
----
@Slenke et al..
Kind of. In case some people missed it, this year began with Sweden opening up a debate on what to do with Gripen's long term future... it landed in how the military decided that it wants one more year before presenting its final opinion. But they said multiple times that they do not see any need for a new version until around 2025. Just one notable difference would be the opportunity to buy AESAs with Galllium Nitride MMICs instead. And that they want continued independence to make a suitable selection for themselves. In their mind exports should not be the driver.
The Government otoh issued its own opinion that exports should actually be the driver of a decision and said that if India were to select Gripen, SwAF would fall in line and go with a closely matched configuration and production schedule. Which is not compatible with SwAFs own requirements. They also had this naive and rather silly idea of India as being a potentional "partner".
So depending on what side you support... missing the shortlist can for sure have different meanings. There's much more to this also, such as obligations to current users, employment and R&T issues... but either way it was a long shot in the first place to win and looking a few years ahead the market is not going to be exactly cluttered with modern yet cost-effective fighters. I'm not exactly sad today but we will just have to see what exactly our politicans do with our military...
My 2 öre.
Since it was brought up and not to vent party politics but as a reflection on the reality of the international politics involving large defence tenders:
What seems to be the Indian decision right now is a bit surprising but then again maybe not so much. For one politics is seen as the greatest individual factor and especially in the case of India with it's 1.2 billion population and political aspirations to match.
Sweden for one can not offer India a seat in the security council and what not but Sweden as a country could indeed compete for large international arms orders even with the political aspects in consideration. However that is something that would require an active independent foreign policy doctrine combined with a real political commitment to promoting arms export.
Nevertheless the reality is that there is no foreign policy doctrine at all today thus that aspect of a tender is automatically nullified in the eyes of any potential customer. Secondly, Sweden's overall commitment to national defence is very questionable which in turn says the opposite of what someone who is looking for an ambitious long-term military-political partner wants to hear. On top of that we send them an effiminate defence minister who is a also a "conscientious objector" to the use military force, which to be sincere sounds like a joke. Would you rely on someone like that for war-time support/deliveries? In fact I don't think even prime minister Reinfeldt believes a minion with a very limited political mandate could come close to competing with Sarkozy and Putin in a big boys' game, yet that is what he chose to do.
Since India at this point did not go with it's traditional partner Russia and did not seek additional support from USA but was looking for an independent choice this was a great opportunity. The size of the deal with 120-200 aircrafts and a potential total order value of some $15 billion simply deserves much greater attention and effort on the political side.
IMHO as an Indian I think it was the fact that the Gripen had an American engine made it loose out.Originally Posted by Breerman
And also the fact that Saab has been supplying a lot of high-tech stuff to the Pakistanis (The Eyerie) which did not go un-noticed. The French have for some time refused to sell any electronics to the Pakistani JF-17 keeping an eye on this deal.
And then there is the Tejas factor.
Saab Targets Smaller Gripen Orders After Losing Bid for India
By Ola Kinnander - Apr 29, 2011 2:45 PM GMT+0200
...
Saab sees potential for Gripen orders in Brazil, Romania, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic, Buskhe said in an interview today. Hungary and the Czech Republic are existing customers that may expand their orders, he said.
“We feel good about the Gripen program, it has lots of potential,” Buskhe said, adding that it “remains a profitable business.”
India’s defense ministry informed Saab April 27 that the Gripen hadn’t been shortlisted for its plan to buy 126 jets.
Saab still has a “good chance” to win an order from Brazil, which initially plans to buy 36 planes, Buskhe said. The Stockholm-based company has “not received any negative signals” from Brazil, and hopes for a decision “within months,” the CEO said.
Saab said today that first-quarter net income rose to 279 million kronor ($46.5 million) from 69 million kronor, beating the average estimate of 205 million kronor in a Bloomberg survey of five analysts.
...
http://bloom.bg/kLxvqT
Operation Unified Protector update
Since April 7: 64 missions
On Thursday morning SwAF Gripens and the KC-130 were the only ones to fly from NAS Sigonella. Using the secondary runway.
Main runway had not been cleaned up after the UAE F-16 crash the day before. It's also the only runway there with the BAK-12 rescue system that the American built jets want to hook up to in case of emergencies (in fact the 2nd UAE F-16 was saved by this system on Wednesday). So they had to sit it out.
Schooled.
SAM site image from recon mission... degraded quality.
source
CzAF at Plasy 'Den ve Vzduchu' Air Show this weekend.
Photos: Daniel Beran, MF DNES
Nice shot of the air brakes.
------
SAAB: May #calendar month - South African Air Force protected the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Link to month
Date: April 28, 2011
Saab Selects Eaton to Provide Ducting Systems for the Gripen Next Generation Fighter Aircraft
IRVINE, Calif. …Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation announced that it has been selected by Saab to design complete ducting systems for the Gripen Next Generation fighter aircraft’s bleed air and environmental control systems. Components manufactured by Eaton for the Gripen Next Generation aircraft include pneumatic ducts, rigid and flexible joints and V-band couplings.
“Eaton’s best-value option for Saab combines superior technical capabilities with competitive pricing,” said Bradley J. Morton, president of Eaton’s Aerospace Group. “Eaton’s global expertise is unmatched in the design and manufacture of these critical components and we are pleased to contribute our technology to the production of the Gripen Next Generation fighter.”
Ducting systems for the Gripen Next Generation fighter convey engine bleed air throughout the aircraft; the air provides cockpit pressurization, wing anti-icing and avionics cooling.
Eaton
gg W.
-----
Trade delegation to Brazil
Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will lead a trade delegation to Brazil 17-18 May. The first day will see bilateral talks with President Dilma. SAAB is with them. Focus on research and innovation.
---
To Swedish Air force personnel; If you wanna vent opinion or got a story to share (maybe under alias), besides writing to fans that @GripenNews thing on Twitter is now followed by a few that I would call influential players in the media, government, industry and peace .org's. One way is to just write here and ask me to link it for people to see, or send me a PM and I will act middle-man. Just know you got this option... (PM me if you dont wanna post in English)
New Tiger scheme for the Czechs.
Shot by Milan Nykodym
Links to hires: http://bit.ly/lfpqW7 http://bit.ly/j1FZXQ http://bit.ly/lPmpyM
Awesome!
Posting Permissions
