Non-Subscriber Extract
SAAF takes delivery of first Gripen aircraft
By Peter Felstead
13 May 2008
The South African Air Force (SAAF) accepted its first new Gripen fighter aircraft, a two-seat JAS 39D (aircraft SA01), on 30 April.
The delivery follows an extensive two-year flight-test programme in South Africa to integrate local avionics, defence and combat systems. Initial work was conducted in Sweden before migrating to a dedicated Gripen flight-test centre established at the SAAF's Test Flight Development Centre near Bredasdorp in the Southern Cape.
Nine two-seat D Model and 17 single-seat C Model Gripens have been ordered as part of South Africa's 1999 Strategic Defence Procurement programme. Deliveries of the two-seat variants will precede the single-seat deliveries.
Image: Aircraft SA01, the first Gripen to be delivered to the SAAF over South Africa's Loskop Dam (Gripen International)