Tag Archives: SwedishGripen
Saab strengthens ties to Quebec and Canada through CRIAQ partnership
This collaborative relationship aims to leverage Quebec’s R&D ecosystem’s strengths to encourage the development of collaborative research projects between Saab and Canadian industry, as well as universities and research organizations.
This collaboration has been formed to support Saab’s future Industrial and Technological Benefit (ITB) commitments, if the Gripen fighter is selected for Canada’s Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP).
“The quality and breadth of aerospace research and innovation in Canada is globally recognised, with the Quebec region home to many excellent companies and institutions. Therefore, it was natural to reach this agreement with an important organisation like CRIAQ. We look forward to working together to benefit research and the fostering of talent in Quebec,” said Jonas Hjelm, Senior Vice President and Saab’s Head of business area Aeronautics.
“During such unsure times within the industry, this partnership demonstrates that the aerospace industry in Quebec and Canada remains attractive and world class. We are very pleased with this signing as we continue to develop our aerospace industry, adding a new global player to our ecosystem. I am convinced that CRIAQ’s academic, industrial and SME community, and the Quebec economy as well, will clearly benefit from this international collaboration,” said Alain Aubertin, CEO of CRIAQ.
The ITB Policy is the government’s main tool for leveraging procurement to create jobs and economic growth in Canada. Saab has submitted an offer of 88 Gripen E fighters for the Canadian FFCP, and a core element of the Gripen industrial offering includes CAE in Montreal, Quebec who will supply training and mission systems solutions.
Gripen fighter aircraft for Croatia
On 9 September 2020, the Swedish government sent its proposal for twelve new Saab JAS39C and JAS39D Gripen fighter aircraft to Croatia. The Swedish embassy in Croatia and the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) handed over the government-to-government proposal.
The Hrvatske Zračne Snage (Croatian Air Force) is looking to replace its long plagued MiG-21 fleet. Initially, Croatia purchased an upgrade for its MiG-21s plus some additional MiG-21bis from UkrSpetsExport and Odesaviaremservice in Odessa (Ukraine), but, some time after delivery, Croatia found that four of the five aircraft had falsified documents and parts installed.
These four aircraft were declared unreliable and unsafe to operate and were withdrawn from use. Now only four MiG-21bis and four MiG-21UM two-seaters remain airworthy. The Minister of Defence announced the MiG-21 fleet will be obsolete in 2023/2024 because of the remaining flight hours and available spare parts dwindling.In 2018, Croatia decided to opt for twelve F-16 Barak aircraft from Israel over the quotation from the USA. The deal was blocked by the United States, as the US government has an end-user-agreement for the Israeli F-16s and they must approve the sale of any of its aircraft that are up for sale to a third party.
Israel requested such an approval, but this request was denied.Croatian media reported that a new Request for Proposal (RFP) was sent to seven countries: USA for new F-16s, Sweden for new Gripens, Greece/Israel/Norway for secondhand F-16s, Italy for used EF2000s and France for used Rafales.
The deadline for sending in bids was 7 May 2020. A decision was expected around August and the contract was to be signed before the end of this year. But this will likely be delayed because of COVID-19.Sweden has submitted an official proposal and officially announced the offer also includes a custom made strategic cooperation package, which would boost the Croatian defence industry, and benefit Croatian security by building a long-term partnership with strategic sectors. It is not known if the other countries have submitted their bids to Croatia or if Sweden is the only country that made a proposal.