National Interest: Air Forces Around the World Love This Killer Fighter Plane. And Its Not from America.
The JAS-39 Gripen is the Swedish defense industry’s largest export, financially. The Gripen has seen considerable success replacing aging fighters in former Warsaw Pact countries, and has also seen sales in Africa, the Americas and Asia. But why is the Gripen successful on the export market? How does it stack up against other NATO products and Soviet jets?
The primary European export success for the Gripen is in post-Soviet states. This is probably due to the accession of these states into NATO and the subsequent need to field “NATO compatible” aircraft at an affordable price. Other European nations either field their own modern jets like the Eurofighter Typhoon, or procured American designs such as the F-16 prior to the fall of the Warsaw Pact, and thus are not really in need of a new jet (although the Gripen NG might fill a niche here).
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WNU Editor: Besides the price .... $30 - $60 million per plane .... one reason why this fighter continues to sell are the low costs in operating it ....
... Probably one of the largest factors for Gripen adoption is the very low flight hour cost. Gripens were rated by Jane’s to have a cost of around $4700 per flight hour. Next cheapest was the F-16 at $7000 per flight hour. Other European designs and the F/A-18 go over $10,000 per flight hour.
