Brazil on Wednesday unveiled the first F-39 Gripen assembled in the country at Embraer’s facility in Gavião Peixoto, in São Paulo state, marking the first time a supersonic fighter has been built in Brazil. The aircraft is part of the country’s program with Saab to acquire 36 Gripen fighters, with 15 of them set to be produced in Brazil under a technology-transfer arrangement.
The rollout was also a manufacturing milestone for Saab.
“This is the first time since 1937, when Saab was founded, that a fighter aircraft is manufactured outside Sweden,” Saab CEO Micael Johansson told Reuters.
Saab and Embraer said the aircraft will undergo functional checks and flight tests before delivery and will then join the fleet already operating from Anápolis Air Force Base.
The Gripen program in the country stems from a 2014 agreement between Saab and the Brazilian government covering 36 aircraft, including 28 single-seat and eight two-seat jets, along with industrial cooperation intended to transfer technical expertise to the national aerospace industry.
“The delivery of the first Gripen produced in Brazil represents far more than the completion of an aircraft; it symbolizes the strength of a partnership built on trust, long-term vision, and true cooperation,” Johansson said.
Bosco da Costa Junior, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, said the program is also helping the country to develop “the capability to produce a high-tech supersonic fighter aircraft.”
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