Saab includes 64 Gripens and GlobalEye pair in best and final offer for Finnish HX contest
By Dominic Perry30
April 2021
Saab is offering 64 Gripen E fighters, a pair of GlobalEye surveillance
jets, and an extensive weapons package to Finland as its best and final offer
for the nation’s HX Boeing F-18 replacement contest.
Detailing the proposal on a media webcast on 30 April, Saab chief
executive Micael Johansson said he was “extremely proud” to submit his
company’s offer to the Finnish defence forces.
Source: Jamie Hunter
Saab has offered 64 Gripen Es to Finland
In addition to the hardware, Johansson says Finland’s aerospace and
defence industries will benefit hugely from participation in Gripen production
and sustainment.
This includes in-country final assembly of an undisclosed number of the
fighters and their GE Aviation F414G engines, plus aerostructures manufacturing
and sustainment activities. In addition, Saab intends to create a Finnish
“systems centre” to enable rapid capability updates to both platforms.
“It would be fantastic to have two production capabilities on both
sides of the Baltic Sea,” says Johansson, which would better allow Saab to
address continued sales interest in the Gripen E.
Saab is staying coy on the final number of aircraft to be built in
Finland, but notes that to have all 64 locally assembled would “have an impact
on delivery schedules” and would have required two Finnish production lines,
which “would not have been economically feasible”, says Saab’s HX campaign
director Magnus Skoberg.
While it would be “most cost-effective” to produce all the jets at
Saab’s Linkoping site in Sweden, Skoberg says this would not create the
required capabilities to allow the aircraft to be supported locally.
“You need to remember this is not at all purely a question on economy
of scale or industrial needs – we don’t necessarily need another production
line to build fighters for our customers or the world market; there is a strong
need to establish [such a] capability in Finland for security of supply.”
Source: Jamie Hunter
An undisclosed number of fighters will be assembled locally
He points out that the Gripen’s design means that unlike other
platforms, final assembly is “not just to connect the ready-made Lego pieces
together”, but a deeper process that will involve significant “knowledge
transfer”.
In all, Saab has committed to 118 projects in Finland – 46 directly
related to the Gripen and 72 broader initiatives regarding advanced materials
or manufacturing, for example. A further 22 projects are included in the
offering, says Skoberg. This means that the company “has quite a decent margin”
above the 30% offset value stipulated in the tender.
Gripen E deliveries would begin in 2025 and run until 2030; initial
operating capability is targeted by 2027. The GlobalEyes, which are based on
the Bombardier Global 6000 business jet, would arrive in 2026 and 2027.
Saab opted to include the two airborne early warning and control jets
in its offer based on the military scenarios Finland is likely to face, says
Skoberg. “The capabilities it is providing give us an extra edge to our
offering,” he says.
“The Gripen’s efficiency in terms of cost and sustainability are the
enabler for us to also include GlobalEye into this equation.”
Although Bombardier will at some point switch production from the
Global 6000 to the new Global 6500, Skoberg says he has received assurances
from the Canadian airframer that this crossover will not take place until after
the aircraft are required for Finland.
Source: Saab
MBDA Meteor missile forms part of weapons package
Weapons are worth in excess of 20% of the overall €9 billion ($10.9
billion) contract value, including MBDA’s Meteor and Spear missiles, the IRIS-T
from Diehl Defence and Taurus Systems’ KEPD 350. However, Skoberg says
additional undisclosed munitions have also been proposed.
Electronic warfare (EW) capability is built into the Gripen E, he adds,
including the integration of the company’s new jammer pod and Lightweight
Air-launched Decoy Missile, the latter using the same triple launcher as the
Spear missile.
An “extensive” spares and support package – including engines and
structural parts – is included within the offer.
While the bid is focused solely on the single-seat Gripen E, Saab has
left the option open for Finland to add twin-seat F models if required.
Sweden is acquiring the Gripen E and could favour the GlobalEye to meet
its future surveillance needs, and Saab believes that the interoperability with
its neighbour will be an additional selling point.
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