Key Points – Saab is developing Sweden’s next-generation fighter system to replace the JAS 39 Gripen around 2050, envisioned as a “system of systems.”
-This concept includes a new manned fighter complemented by a diverse fleet of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) of varying sizes and capabilities—from small subsonic drones under one ton to larger supersonic platforms over five tons—all incorporating AI, networking, and stealth.
JAS 39 Gripen. Image Credit: Ideogram.
-Under the Flygsystem 2020 program, a demonstrator aircraft design is due by late 2025. Saab aims to leverage international partnerships for components, like GKN Aerospace for engine development, while maintaining overall design control in Sweden.
JAS 39 Gripen Will Eventually Be Replaced
In December 2024, the Swedish news site SVT Nyheter reported that Saab was moving forward with plans for a Swedish next-generation fighter jet. These preparations will reach their fruition as the JAS 39 Gripen nears the end of its operational service life.
Deployment of a Gripen replacement is planned for before or close to 2050. According to Saab’s Head of Advanced Programs, Peter Nilsson, the proposal focuses on a mix of manned and unmanned platforms.
The effort’s structure involves a more diverse mix of platforms than any other combat aircraft and defense firm has proposed to date. The smallest would be a low-cost subsonic uncrewed platform weighing under one ton. The platform and two other designs would be a fleet of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) to support three larger platforms.
One larger design would be a larger supersonic uncrewed platform expected to weigh over five tons. The second would be a subsonic uncrewed platform under five tons, and finally, a new manned fighter to replace the Gripen.
These aircraft will all comprise technologies such as artificial intelligence, networked operations, and stealth capabilities, which are considered necessary for future air combat requirements.
Flygsystem 2020
The development of a next-generation fighter for Sweden originally began as the Flygsystem 2020 program. This is a staged program in that the contract stipulates a first phase in which Saab will initially submit design drawings for a demonstrator by the end of 2025. That aircraft would not be a fully operational prototype but would be flown to validate design concepts.
This demonstrator would provide important test and evaluation data that would then be utilized for the development of a new combat aircraft system. In parallel, Saab is engaged in research to develop advanced materials, artificial intelligence, stealth, and other low-observability technologies.
Testing will be conducted in cooperation with and benefit from contributions from the FMV (the Swedish military’s Materiel Command), the Swedish Armed Forces, and GKN Aerospace.
This contractual agreement is expected to run from 2024 to 2025. Potential extensions to this base design and development effort would also exist.
If activated, these extensions would evaluate both existing and new technologies. Those technologies would then be demonstrated in cooperation with national and international stakeholders and partners.
Cooperatively Developing a New Fighter
One major partner with Saab is GKN Aerospace, which is building on its experience with RM12 (F404 derivative) and RM16 (F414 derivative) engines for the JAS 39 Gripen models. The company has now signed a new cooperation agreement with Saab to investigate different solutions for future fighter aircraft systems.
Additionally, the GKN Aerospace’s development center in Trollhättan, Sweden, has been given a €59.5 million investment to expand additive fabrication technology capabilities. The activity at Trollhättan is simultaneously modernizing and advancing the state of industrialization at this site, reducing the environmental impact of these activities and, at the same time, meeting any future power and propulsion requirements for a future Swedish combat aircraft.
JAS 39 Gripen. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
JAS 39 Gripen. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
JAS 39 Gripen. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
In his briefings, Nilsson has suggested that the development of a next-generation fighter could be organized in a similar manner to that of the Gripen.
He specifically referred to a strategy that involved several collaborative international partners while Saab maintained control over the design process and carried that process out within Sweden. He gave the example of the Gripen JAS-39E, which was developed by Saab and is sold as a Saab product.
However, developing the Gripen—not just the JAS-39E but all variants—has included a significant percentage of the aircraft’s components sourced from foreign suppliers. Saab then took on the task of integrating these major subsystems—engines and ejection seats—into a single platform design.
This same model is the approach that Saab is proposing for future projects like its next-generation fighter. As always, the challenge is balancing the local Swedish oversight and control over the design with increasing international collaboration.
About the Author:
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
