Radar Glitch Restricts Swedish Fighter Jet Flights

Radar Glitch Restricts Swedish Fighter Jet Flights

(Source: Reuters; published Jan. 23, 2004)

STOCKHOLM — The Swedish air force said on Friday its JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets, a model offered to the air force of Brazil, had suffered technical problems prompting some restrictions on flights at night and in cloudy weather.

The planes — built by Gripen International, a consortium co-owned by Swedish aerospace and defence group Saab and Britain’s BAE Systems — have already been sold to South Africa and Hungary.

The Czech Republic decided last month to lease 14 new Gripen fighters for 10 years, saying it had chosen the Swedish jet and rejected a rival offer for U.S. Lockheed Martin’s F-16 mainly on technical merit.

Swedish public service SR radio news reported that radars on Gripen jets had ceased to function on at least 10 occasions in the past two years — hampering navigation and leading to flight restrictions.

The air force inspector, Major-General Jan Andersson, acknowledged 15 such operational restrictions but classified these as normal procedure for handling technology glitches. “We reject totally any suggestions of significant problems relating to Gripen´s avionics systems,” he said in a statement.

Gripen International spokesman Owe Wagermark said the fighter jet’s electronic communications system had suffered some teething problems. “The problem is being fixed,” he said.

Brazil will select, perhaps by the end of this month, the winner of an initial contract for 12 fighter jets worth up to $700 million.
In addition to Gripen International and Lockheed Martin, Brazil’s Embraer together with France’s Dassault Aviation as well as the Russian makers of Sukhoi and MiG jets have submitted offers.

Brazil’s fighter jet purchase would be Latin America’s biggest arms contract in years.

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