2nd production version AESA antenna delivered

Following the successful acceptance test, Hensoldt has now delivered the second antenna ready for series production to Leonardo UK in Edinburgh. This means that the production of the so-called e-scan antenna can commence at the Hensoldt site in Ulm/Germany according to plan. This paves the way for the delivery of the first radar systems as of mid-2019.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/198518/hensoldt-delivers-production-antennas-for-captor_e-radar.html

Is shutdown of the Spanish FAL imminent? According to a defense-aerospace article from October 2016, all orders should be completed in 2018. I don’t see any chance of any export orders from South America changing the situation, nor another order from the Spanish government.

Link: http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/feature/5/177740/eurofighter-four-face-hard-decisions-on-production%2C-damages-as-orders-run-out.html

What happens next? Assuming the Typhoon FAL closes, can Eurofighter switch its use to assembling a different aircraft? Will Eurofighter claim compensation for the reduction in tranche 3 orders?

Gripen E flies with Meteor

In October, Saab successfully completed a test flight by a Gripen E aircraft with the Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) for the first time.

The flight included two Meteor missiles…

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/197462/gripen-e-development-aircraft-flies-with-meteor-missile.html

I’m not quite sure what you are saying. To me what he is saying with this:

“O Gripen e um aviao de ultima gerecao. E um aviao que realmente vai atendar tudos as nossas necessidades ao futuro.”

is: The Gripen is a latest generation aircraft. It is an aircraft which is going to truly meet our future needs.

Need Sintra to ajudicate!

Has it got any clever high lift devices that can be deployed for take off?

I think it is widely understood that:

1. The SC capability of Gripen E is limited to around Mach 1.2 or so

2. Gripen E will have this capability only in a light config (i.e., a2a with 4 a2a missiles).

Sounds like it might be just right as a lower cost air defence fighter for non-aggressive countries like Austria, Sweden, Switzerland. Does it matter to neutral countries whether it can supercruise with a heavy A2G load if they have little or no interest in attacking anyone?

From the old flightglobal link above:

Company test pilot Magnus Ljungdahl says the aircraft was flown to a speed of more than Mach 1.2 at 28,000ft (8,540m) above the Baltic Sea, and adds: “Without using afterburner I maintained the same speed until I ran out of test area.”

Any reason to suppose that Gripen E will be as draggy as the NG? I would have thought that with advances in aerodynamic design a reduction in drag would have been achieved in the ~10 years since the supercruise demonstration.

“When will we know how fast E/F will supercruise ?”

It won’t – except for maybe at its optimal altitude. Clean wing, sure, but not with a typical loadout. Aircraft like this are supercruise in name only (SINO).

What about cruise speed with 4 AAM’s? Would that not not be a typical loadout in an interception role?