JAS39C/D - Latest Generation Gripens make steady progress

When the first flight of the prototype dual-seat Gripen D took place on June 2, 2004, test pilot Richard Ljungberg took another significant step in the acceptance and flight-testing program for the latest generation Gripens - the Gripen C/D. Following on from the maiden flight of the latest generation Gripen C in August 2002, and the handover of the first aircraft to the Swedish Air Force in September that year, a combined team drawn from Saab, the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) and the Swedish Air Force (SwAF) has undertaken flights to verify the range of expanded and enhanced capabilities and systems of the Gripen C/D.

The single-seat Gripen C and fully combat-capable, dual-seat Gripen D build on the proven operational capability of the Gripen A/B that already form the backbone of the Swedish Air Force. Furthermore all work on the Gripen C/D variants is applicable not only to the SwAF but is also directly linked to the export aircraft selected by South Africa, Hungary and, most recently, the Czech Republic, which share the same level of advanced functionality.
The advanced Gripen C/D introduces a host of new systems and capabilities including air-to-air refueling (with a new retractable probe), On Board Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS), English language displays and publications, the EP 17 full-color cockpit (with three large Multi Functional Displays (MFDs) and fully digital cockpit - no conventional analogue instruments), a new central computer (Ericsson's D96/MACS with five bus architecture), Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) engine controls, a higher payload carried on NATO pylons, enhanced ‘smart' weapons compatibility (and expanded weapons availability), a new communications suite and self-defense fit, plus the provision for new sensor systems (such as an infra-red search and track system).

The latest generation aircraft also have a more effective Environmental Control System (ECS) and has been re-certified for world wide climate operations, an improved Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) and an extended airframe life (8,000 flying hours service life). The Gripen C evaluation fleet is already flying with the latest edition of the Gripen's avionics software. The new software is at the heart of the Gripen C/D's further improved cockpit systems and Human Machine Interface (HMI). The Gripen C/D's new all-color large-screen display system is the first in the world to dispense with all conventional mechanical instruments. The additional computing power and data management capabilities of the Gripen C/D are the cornerstones of the Gripen's multi mission flexibility and combat power.

Other important Gripen C/D testing has concentrated on the new general systems computer, the General systems Electronic Control Unit (GECU), which replaces the hydraulic, fuel and Environmental Control System (ECS) computers present in the earlier aircraft. The ECS system has also been modified to deal with all worldwide climate conditions and for the introduction of the OBOGS with its associated new anti-g protection for the pilot (the previous system was driven by pressurized breathing oxygen). The next steps in the aircraft's certification program will see the staged introduction of additional functionality in the production aircraft such as the advanced electronic warfare and self-protection suite and the Gripen's NATO-compatible (Mark IV) IFF system.