Taken from Saab official website
Gripen: Ideal For Indonesian Air Force
The Indonesian government is planning to replace the F-5 fighter aircrafts. The Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) polices a very large area. Indonesia’s vast archipelago includes about 17,000 islands stretching over nearly 2 million square kilometres. It has a coastline of 54,716 kilometres to protect and three land borders (Timor-Leste 228 kilometres, Malaysia 1,782 kilometres, and Papua New Guinea 820 kilometres). Moreover, it sits right at Southeast Asia’s maritime chokepoints, such as the Strait of Malacca.
Given this large geographical spread, effective Air Force capability requires high availability of aircraft, long time on station, short turn arounds, long ferry range and large combat radius. The country spends around 1% of its GDP on Defence so it would be looking at an aircraft that isaffordable, superior and have low operational cost. All these make the Gripen an ideal solution for Indonesia.
Gripen is the first of the new generation, multi-role fighter aircrafts to enter operational service.Using the latest technology, Gripen is capable of performing an extensive range of air-to-air, air-to-surface and reconnaissance missions employing the latest weapons.
Gripen is designed to meet the demands of existing and future threats, while simultaneously meeting strict requirements for flight safety, reliability, training efficiency and low operating costs.
Gripen’s inherent design concept is its ability to operate in groups, sharing targets and friendly ship information and cooperating when launching the most modern weapons available.Designed to ensure outstanding combat agility, Gripen features a delta-canard configuration withrelaxed aerodynamic stability. The delta wing and canards, along with the digital Fly-By-Wire Flight Control System, give the fighter an optimum combination of maneuverability, acceleration, top speed and short-field performance.
Gripen is a true multirole fighter, designed as such from the very beginning. This means it can perform missions in all the three roles: air-to-air, air-to-surface and reconnaissance. It can change role while airborne, and it can even act in multiple roles simultaneously. This simultaneous capability will grow over time, as the AESA radar and other systems are further developed. This multi-role capability will help Indonesian Air Force use the same aircraft for different roles, thereby reducing the need for different aircraft to play different roles. The Gripen can replace the F-5E/F not only in its interceptor role but also play a strike fighter role.
Within the three roles, Gripen can perform a wide range of missions such as for example Offensive Counter Air, Defensive Counter Air, Air Policing, Cruise Missile Defence, Close Air Support, Air Interdiction, SEAD/DEAD, Maritime Strike, Strategic Attack, Sea Surveillance, Tactical Air Reconnaissance and Non-Traditional ISR. These missions can be performed 24/7 and in all types of weather.
Gripen C has an overall maximum ferry range of approximately 3000 km. The ferry range is reached at high altitude with maximum use of external drop tanks and no weapons attached. The ferry range for Gripen E with large drop tanks (optional) is approximately 4000 km. This is ideal for Indonesia with its very vast territory and large number of islands.
Saab is committed to working together with the Indonesian government to offer and deliver industrial cooperation programmes and social value that reaches far beyond the aircraft contract. This way, we create sustainable business and real economic growth. Industrial cooperation is achieved through the direct participation of Indonesia’sindustry in the production and development of the contracted system, or by Saab generating investments within areas of national priority. These areas can cover high-level objectives ranging from purely military strategic goals all the way up to overall contribution to the GDP.
The pilot’s fighter.Gripen is a pilot’s dream. It is easy to fly and gives the pilot full control. Gripen’s outstanding agility with high instantaneous and sustained turn rates means unrivalled performance in close combat. Its state-of-the-art HMI and digital Fly-by-wire flight control system enables the pilot to concentrate fully on the mission at hand.
Multirole is in the DNA.Gripen was built to be a true multirole fighter, and was the first fighter of its kind to enter operational service. It is also true to Saab’s tradition of developing smart, unique and extremely functional solutions for combat aircraft. In short, Gripen is a multirole fighter through and through.
Any mission.Anytime.Anywhere.Gripen can carry out air intercept, attack and reconnaissance missions – all in the same sortie if required. On top of this Gripen’s robust design allows for unrivalled simple and rapid maintenance, resulting in turnaround times that no other fighter can match. A Gripen fighter is always ready to fly.
Gripen is a
truly Network Centric multirole fighter with the world’s most highly developed secure and multifrequency data link. Together with its fully integrated avionic mission system, Gripen offers total situational awareness for the pilot in all roles. In fact, it excels.
When it comes to
peacetime surveillance and air policing, Gripen is the multirole fighter of choice. It will support TNI-AU in detecting and reporting activities such as illegal fishing, illegal immigration and piracy. Gripen is your eye in the sky.
From the very beginning, Gripen was developed with availability, cost and upgradability in mind. Its robust design keeps maintenance and service costs down, and its modular design allows it to be continuously upgraded in order to deal with future threat scenarios. All this boils down to the fact that when choosing Gripen, you get more time in the air. And when it comes to fighters, air time means quality time.
The Gripen paradox: Get more. For less.Every part of the Gripen concept is designed to be as smart and cost-effective as possible. Instead of simply opting for any solution, at any cost, Saab’s engineers are always looking for the smartest one. But they never compromise. Instead, they innovate.
And together with Saab’s
attractive and innovative financial solutions, this means the total life time cost for a Gripen becomes very moderate in comparison with other fighters.
Industrial Cooperation (IC): The Gripen effect. In the defence industry, IC is an essential part of doing business. For Saab, good IC means partnerships – lasting, business-driven relationships that generate long-term mutual benefits. Saab has an unrivalled proven track record of successful win-win partnerships created within Gripen packages.
The smart fighter: The combination of excellent operational performance and moderate through life costs makes Gripen unique on the world market today. It is as simple as that!