The first Saab Gripen E fighter built outside Sweden, manufactured under licence by Brazil’s Embraer, has taken to the skies, completing its maiden flight from Embraer’s Gavião Peixoto aerodrome in São Paulo State on 6 October at 10:21 local time, Saab reported the following day.
Flown by Saab chief test pilot Jakob Högberg, the sortie aimed to verify the aircraft’s basic system functions and assess its initial performance. The flight was classified as the fighter’s first production acceptance test and initiated the final phase of the manufacturing process at Embraer.
Embraer flight engineers were responsible for flight planning and execution, with support from Saab, marking another milestone in the technology transfer plan delivered by the Gripen programme to Brazil.
“This maiden flight shows that Gripen production in Brazil has reached a new level of maturity,” Marcus Wandt, head of Saab’s Aeronautics business area, was quoted as saying in a Saab press release. “I am proud of our close co-operation with Embraer in the Gripen programme, which establishes a solid foundation for Gripen’s future development in Brazil.”
Bosco da Costa Junior, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, added, “This first flight of a Gripen E produced in Brazil by Embraer is a historic milestone for the country’s aerospace and defence industry. It confirms the success of a long-term strategy that combined the vision of the Brazilian Air Force, Saab’s technological expertise and Embraer’s engineering and industrial capabilities.”
Following its production acceptance flight campaign, the aircraft will be certified and ready for delivery to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). It will be transferred to Anápolis Air Force Base in Goiás State to join the FAB’s First Air Defence Group (1st GDA), which currently operates 10 Gripen E fighters.
The Gripen E (designated the F-39E in Brazilian service) officially entered operational service with the FAB on 19 December 2022 and with the Swedish Air Force on 20 October 2025.
Brazil’s Gripen E/F fleet
The first Gripen E produced in Brazil, officially presented on 25 March 2026 by Embraer, is the first of 15 to be produced in Brazil under the current programme.
Embraer is home to South America’s only supersonic fighter production line and is considered by Saab to be an integral part of its global manufacturing and supply chain network.
Brazil placed a contract with Saab for 28 single‑seat Gripen Es and eight twin‑seat Gripen Fs in October 2014. While the technology transfer agreement under this contract saw the establishment by Embraer of a final assembly and manufacturing line for the Gripen E, it was decided that the Gripen Fs would be manufactured in Linköping, Sweden, to optimise production efficiency, despite the Swedish Air Force not having ordered any Gripen Fs of its own.
The first Gripen F was formally rolled out at Linköping on 2 June 2026 and performed its maiden flight out of that facility at 09:40 local time on 28 August 2026.
Gripen E/Fs feature the Leonardo Raven ES-05 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, the Leonardo Skyward-G advanced, passive infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, the Saab Arexis electronic warfare/self-protection suite, and have 10 hardpoints that can carry a variety of weapons, including the Meteor and AIM-120 AMRAAM beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles; the IRIS-T, AIM-9X Sidewinder and A-Darter short-range air-to-air missiles; the AGM-65 Maverick air-ground-missile; the RBS-15F anti-ship missile; and freefall bombs, including the GBU-12 Paveway II/III/E series, SPICE 250, GBU-10 and GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb.
However, due to the space required for the second seat in the Gripen F, only the Gripen E carries an internal 27 mm Mauser BK27 cannon.
