Gripen can be armed with Indian missiles
“Any weapon of Indian choice can be integrated to the Gripen fighter,’’ says Mats Palmberg, Head of Gripen India Campaign.
“Gripen can also be equipped with Israeli, European, and even American weapons, giving it an edge in the ongoing MRFA (Multirole Fighter Aircraft) competition,’’ he adds.
Gripen E can carry nine missiles and 16 bombs. Its split avionics allows updates or changes to be made without the need to re-certify the flight critical software. This results in a faster, easier integration of new weapons to the fighter.
Guided bombs such as the Spice 1000, GBU-49 (American), Paveway III GBU-22/-24, Paveway II GBU-10/-12/-16, GBU-39 SDB I and II can be easily integrated to Gripen. As far as air-to-air missiles are concerned, IRIS-T, A-Darter, Python 4/5, the AIM-9X Sidewinder, and AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) have been successfully tested on Gripen.
Mats also talks about Meteor, one of the most powerful next generation Beyond Visual Range missiles today. Meteor was first tested on Gripen C in 2006. “Meteor is an indispensable part of the Gripen for India offer. But we are also open to discuss other weapons and armaments that the Indian Air Force is interested in integrating to Gripen,’’ he says.