Saab Reiterates Gripen E/F Jet Offer to India with 3-Year Delivery and Full Technology Transfer under $20 Billion MRFA Deal

Bengaluru, India – Swedish defence giant Saab has thrown its hat into the ring for the Indian Air Force's (IAF) Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) deal, offering its Gripen E/F fighter jet with a compelling proposition: delivery of the first indigenously-built aircraft within three years and complete technology transfer. This comes as the IAF looks to procure 114 new fighter jets under the 'Make in India' initiative, a contract estimated to be worth $20 billion.

Saab is emphasizing its commitment to technology transfer and local production. Kent-Ake Molin, Saab's Campaign Director and Head of Gripen for India Programme, stated, "We foresee that we can set up full-scale production in India, which will include everything; not just airframe, but also systems and software. We've a plan to rapidly indigenise the platform." He further highlighted ongoing discussions with Indian private sector partners to support this ambitious goal.

The Gripen E/F is competing against formidable rivals such as the Dassault Rafale, Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin F-21, MiG-35, and Eurofighter Typhoon. The IAF's requirements mandate significant technology transfer and the establishment of manufacturing lines in India, aiming to boost the country's domestic defence industry.

The Gripen E/F has also seen export success with Brazil and Thailand, which could further bolster its appeal to the IAF.

Saab aims to build a complete ecosystem around the Gripen in India, leveraging its experience from responding to the 2018 RFI and subsequent engagements with the IAF. Molin emphasized the company's readiness to deliver aircraft swiftly, supported by Indian partners, within the three-year timeframe.

Saab has been actively engaging with Indian defence companies like the Adani Group to explore potential partnerships for Gripen production in India.

While some components, like the engine, are sourced from global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Saab highlighted the indigenous nature of the Gripen's avionics, software, mission computers, and sensor fusion capabilities. Molin stressed Saab's internal expertise in radar, electronic warfare systems, and weapon systems, emphasizing the potential for integrating Indian-made equipment onto the Gripen platform.

The Gripen E/F boasts advanced features like AI integration for enhanced pilot decision-making, network-enabled capabilities for seamless interoperability with other platforms, and a commitment to periodic software upgrades to ensure the aircraft remains at the cutting edge of technology.

This aggressive bid by Saab, with its focus on technology transfer and rapid delivery, adds another layer of complexity to India's high-stakes MRFA competition. The IAF's decision will have significant implications for the future of India's air power and its domestic defence industry.

 

[Sumon Roy]

Tejas mk2 and Gripen E will be same category . After 3-4 years Tejas mk2 will be ready. So Gripen E isn't a good option.

 

[Anant]

lets buy SAAB out

Yeah... Saab isn't up for sale. Even if it were, you do realise there are very large geopolitical considerations and deliberations on such things, right? You can't just waltz up and buy a company.

 

[Sandeep]

Neither the jet nor the tech is good buddy. It failed the field trials in MMRCA, remember?

That doesn’t mean its technology is bad. Also what exactly and how the airforce chose the jets is a bit opaque.

 

[Akshat]

That doesn’t mean its technology is bad. Also what exactly and how the airforce chose the jets is a bit opaque.

So you want the entire set of parameters of the IAF to be revealed publicly so that our enemies know what exactly IAF was looking for and what are the results, thus knowing their strategies for war?

 

[desigandu]

Yeah... Saab isn't up for sale. Even if it were, you do realise there are very large geopolitical considerations and deliberations on such things, right? You can't just waltz up and buy a company.

Agreed, but what Bharat needs is multiple sovereign wealth funds that invest in critical companies and technologies, partner with western private equity, venture capital funds for strategic investments…These need to be done with both Indian and western political blessing in the guise of secure supply chains and to keep the dragon away…Something that Bharat must embark on soon even with a starting corpus of $100-250B, increasing to $1T by 2035, as part of overall government pension funds and long term life insurance funds…JaiHind…Jai Bharat…
These are existing domestic funds repurposed towards foreign investment backed up by our foreign reserves, so not from government budgets, while being backstopped by GOI…

 

[MF]

lets buy SAAB out

What leads you to believe that Saab would have any interest in being sold to India?

 

[MF]

Will it include jet engine technology including single crystal blade manufacture? I think not!

None of the MRFA program competitors are able to include jet engine technology in the technology transfer as they do not own the intellectual property of the same. If India wants to obtain something like this, it must negotiate separately and directly with the engine manufacturers. The same goes for other technologies and equipment.

 

[MF]

1. We are developing those, but mk2 and amca won’t be around in this decade or the next. As for Mk1a, it can’t be manufactured by HAL even in limited numbers. So MRFA is a compulsion due to the disappointment caused by HAL and ADA.

2. The main issue is that GE had shut down the line and is now getting it back up. Unnamed sources even indicate that HAL was told about this but they chose not to inform MoD. Nonetheless, HAL hasn’t even delivered the jets for which engines were delivered many years ago, or the mk1a which was developed using surplus engines. So engine is not an issue at least as far as HAL is concerned. And once th line is stabilized, which it has in Sweden, it can produce enough jets.

3. It’s not even a halfway decent jet. It failed the field trials last time. And the cost is even higher than Rafale, if the Brazil deal is taken as benchmark. They though have improved a few small things, charging Brazil for it. They will charge us billions to get a few more things done.

The reality is that the acquisition cost of the Gripen is actually lower than that of the Rafale. And I say this taking the competition for Brazil's FX-2 program as a reference. According to reports in Brazilian media, Boeing and Dassault's proposals were, respectively, 500 million and 1.7 billion more expensive than Saab's.

Furthermore, the proposals from the Americans and the French were inferior in terms of technology transfer. An analysis by Embraer, which would be the main beneficiary of the technology transfer, demonstrated that the Gripen was the most advantageous choice.

 

[MF]

Quite a few inconsistencies, buddy. Firstly the price. Gripen was sold to Brazil for over 250 million USD, well over the price we paid for Rafale. Secondly, it’s not a new design. The design was offered and tested in MMRCA and failed field trials. Moreover, the GaN radar is no surety, while Rafale will have it in production variants from 2025 itself. Then, the lower orders means they don’t have the infrastructure, so much will take time to scale up. On the other hand, France can deliver 12 jets annually from 2026 to India if need be. There is so much spare capacity. It can further go up to 24 if need be.

The payload is also too low. IAF and ADA call Mk2 a LCA, so it’s not even a medium category fighter as the payload is similar to Mk2. There is no voice assisted cockpit either like Rafale. They made Brazil pay for the wide area display, who knows what they will make us pay for.

You are sharing lies! Considering that Brazil paid 5.4 billion for 36 Gripen units along with technology transfer and co-participation in the development of versions E and F, the unit cost was only 150 million. The proposal made to Brazil by Dassault was much more expensive.

It must be considered that India's lower Rafale acquisition price was motivated exclusively by the fact that the purchase was of units produced directly in France, without technology transfer or with the possibility of local assembly of some units. All of this makes final costs cheaper.

The reality is that both the Gripen and the Rafale are not new designs. All versions offered are updated versions of models that were originally developed in the 80s. Regarding Dassault's production capacity, the reality is that the factory is not idle. France gave up producing units for its air force in order to attract buyers for the model through greater speed in obtaining the aircraft.

Regarding the wide-area display, the acquisition cost was paid by Brazil by choice, since initially, the equipment was designed by a Brazilian company to exclusively equip the units that would be operated by the FAB. Saab later chose to make the equipment available to units that would go to Sweden and other nations.

 

[Akshat]

You are sharing lies! Considering that Brazil paid 5.4 billion for 36 Gripen units along with technology transfer and co-participation in the development of versions E and F, the unit cost was only 150 million. The proposal made to Brazil by Dassault was much more expensive.

You are the one sharing lies. 5.4 billion usd was the base price. Brazil’s own government has agreed that after all the modifications and everything, the final cost was 9.1 billion USD, which comes to over 250 million isd per jet, and well above Indian’s price for Rafale. As for ToT and offsets, India got 50% in offsets and ToT. That’s more than what Brazil got.

 

[Akshat]

The reality is that the acquisition cost of the Gripen is actually lower than that of the Rafale. And I say this taking the competition for Brazil's FX-2 program as a reference. According to reports in Brazilian media, Boeing and Dassault's proposals were, respectively, 500 million and 1.7 billion more expensive than Saab's.

Furthermore, the proposals from the Americans and the French were inferior in terms of technology transfer. An analysis by Embraer, which would be the main beneficiary of the technology transfer, demonstrated that the Gripen was the most advantageous choice.

That analysis was considering that the jets would be exported to other Latin nations. And it was based on the base price. But the final acquisition cost turned out to be too high and the then government is now looking at a corruption scandal. The net price turned out to be higher than what India paid for its Rafale.

 

[M.H.]

You are the one sharing lies. 5.4 billion usd was the base price. Brazil’s own government has agreed that after all the modifications and everything, the final cost was 9.1 billion USD, which comes to over 250 million isd per jet, and well above Indian’s price for Rafale. As for ToT and offsets, India got 50% in offsets and ToT. That’s more than what Brazil got.

The MF is really telling the truth. While researching, I read in publications from the Brazilian media and the government itself, that the contract signed between Brazil and SAAB was worth 5.4 billion dollars for the 36 Gripen fighters. The amount of 9.1 billion that you mention refers to what Brazil will receive in compensation projects of an industrial, technological and/or commercial nature negotiated in contracts between its air force and foreign companies.

 

[M.H.]

That analysis was considering that the jets would be exported to other Latin nations. And it was based on the base price. But the final acquisition cost turned out to be too high and the then government is now looking at a corruption scandal. The net price turned out to be higher than what India paid for its Rafale.

Which corruption scandal?

 

[MF]

That analysis was considering that the jets would be exported to other Latin nations. And it was based on the base price. But the final acquisition cost turned out to be too high and the then government is now looking at a corruption scandal. The net price turned out to be higher than what India paid for its Rafale.

You are mistaken. The values I reported were published by the Brazilian media themselves. The Gripen's base acquisition price was 4.5 billion dollars, which was later increased to 5.4 billion due to modifications requested by the Brazilian Air Force. Even so, the value was lower than that proposed by Boeing and Dassault.

The net price ended up being higher than what India paid for its Rafale due to the fact that Brazil acquired technology transfer, co-participation in the development of versions E and F and opening a final assembly line. If Brazil had chosen to only acquire Gripen produced in Sweden and without technology transfer, the price that would be paid would be lower than that paid by India for the Rafale.

 

[Akshat]

The MF is really telling the truth. While researching, I read in publications from the Brazilian media and the government itself, that the contract signed between Brazil and SAAB was worth 5.4 billion dollars for the 36 Gripen fighters. The amount of 9.1 billion that you mention refers to what Brazil will receive in compensation projects of an industrial, technological and/or commercial nature negotiated in contracts between its air force and foreign companies.

Nopes. It is the price Beazil will pay to Saab as compensation for the 36 jets. The Ben India has offsets. That is immaterial. The documents clearly state that Brazilian government will pay 9.1 billion usd for those 36 jets. That is clearly written in the documents. Confirmed with a Brazilian speaking friend as well.

 

[Akshat]

Which corruption scandal?

The Gripen acquisition scandal.

 

[Akshat]

You are mistaken. The values I reported were published by the Brazilian media themselves. The Gripen's base acquisition price was 4.5 billion dollars, which was later increased to 5.4 billion due to modifications requested by the Brazilian Air Force. Even so, the value was lower than that proposed by Boeing and Dassault.

The net price ended up being higher than what India paid for its Rafale due to the fact that Brazil acquired technology transfer, co-participation in the development of versions E and F and opening a final assembly line. If Brazil had chosen to only acquire Gripen produced in Sweden and without technology transfer, the price that would be paid would be lower than that paid by India for the Rafale.

I am not talking about Brazilian media but official government documents. They state that the final price for the 36 jets is 9.1 billion usd. This didn’t give them any IPR rights or anything. So the price was just for acquisition.

 

[MF]

I am not talking about Brazilian media but official government documents. They state that the final price for the 36 jets is 9.1 billion usd. This didn’t give them any IPR rights or anything. So the price was just for acquisition.

This is illogical! You searched for incorrect information! The Brazilian government's own official documents state that the acquisition of Gripen cost 5.4 billion dollars. 9.1 billion dollars is the equivalent value that Brazil is receiving for the transfer of knowledge. Technology transfer is very different from intellectual property rights!

 

[MF]

The Gripen acquisition scandal.

There was no corruption scandal in the Gripen acquisition. When rumors emerged that this had happened, Brazilian and Swedish authorities carried out investigations that found no irregularities and did not substantiate the allegations of corruption.