You can disregard the Ares blogs as they were posted long before the switch in supplier – I was there too and know exactly what was said. I was also there a few months later when Gripen said why they had changed antennas.
At the time there was indeed an undercurrent that France/Dassault had applied pressure to Thales to drop out of Gripen NG because of India, but Saab denied this and there was no publicly announced basis for it.
Air& Cosmos might believe they know why the switch was made, and maybe they are right. But the French ‘reaction’ could equally be perceived as a ‘face-saving’ exercise if indeed Thales was dropped on technical disappointments. The nature of the Raven antenna and its swashplate mechanism would suggest it was more advanced.
Whatever was said publicly both scenarios are valid, or maybe there was an element of both (i.e. Thales indicated that it was being pressured to drop out, therefore Saab is forced to look elsewhere, and by happy coincidence finds something better)
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