The Quest for Relevant Air Power

swedish Air Force │ 317
was approved by the Swedish parliament. Despite being an indigenous
programme, the JAS 39 Gripen is an expression of Sweden’s
defence industrial opening process. A substantial part of the aircraft’s
components have been procured from abroad, which also
helped to break the cost spiral. 197
The aircraft has a swing-role capability, allowing it to switch between
interception, ground attack, and reconnaissance tasks
within one mission. The more advanced C and D versions offer a
crucial improvement in that they meet not only domestic but also
international requirements. They are fully NATO interoperable,
have an in-flight refuelling capability, an integrated GPS navigation
suite, and the latest NATO standard IFF equipment. In response
to international requirements, all system information is
presented in English. In the tradition of Swedish combat aircraft
designs, the Gripen is able to operate from very short strips and
thus fits into the Swedish doctrine of dispersed basing. Furthermore,
the aircraft is easy to maintain and delivers a high readiness
and sortie rate. 198 A total of 204 Gripens were ordered for the
SwAF in the mid-1990s—140 JAS 39A/B models plus 64 C/D
models. 199 As it finally turned out, more JAS 39C/D and fewer JAS
39A/B aircraft than originally planned were procured. Against the
backdrop of the fundamental reorganisation of the SwAF in the
wake of the 1999 defence reform, the number of Gripens being
procured proved too great. As a consequence, the SwAF has been
attempting to sell surplus aircraft. Twenty-eight JAS 39C/D aircraft
were, for instance, delivered to the Czech Republic and to
Hungary, while the operational SwAF squadrons have been
equipped with the more advanced C/D version. Currently, approximately
30 JAS 39A/B Gripens are being upgraded to achieve
the force goal of 100 JAS 39C/D aircraft by 2012. 200
A combat aircraft’s versatility depends to a large degree upon
the array of weapons it can deliver. In this regard, the Gripen is
indeed a very versatile weapons platform. For ground and maritime
strike missions, the Gripen can carry a variety of standoff
weapons. Among them are the indigenously designed Saab Bofors
Dynamics RBS 15F anti-ship missile and the ubiquitous AGM-65
Maverick air-to-ground missile. 201 With Sweden’s increasing commitment
to out-of-area operations, the SwAF also saw the need to
acquire LGBs for close air support missions. In 2005 Mark 82