Skip to content Go to main navigation Go to language selector

Gripen C test flight Aesa radar

27 April 2020

Gripen C/D Flies with Saab’s new AESA Radar for the First Time

2 min read

On April 8, Saab flew its new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) X-band radar in a Gripen fighter (800) for the first time, at Saab’s Linköping airfield. The 90-minute sortie was undertaken to test the radar against airborne targets of opportunity and other ground targets as well.

“This is an important step in the development of our new AESA radar,” Anders Carp, senior vice president and head of Saab's Surveillance business area, tells AIN. “We see great possibilities for the radar. Its modular, adaptable and scalable design allows it to be used for a range of other applications as well,” Carp adds.

Saab will continue to perform these initial tests for three to four more months, with about 15 more flights for the Gripen 800 with the AESA radar. The new sensor will also be used against hunting targets.

AESA has hundreds of gallium nitride (GaN) transmit/receive modules which help the radar achieve better performance in terms of electronic countermeasures, small target detection, and greater bandwidth. Unlike the GaAs (gallium arsenide) semiconductor used in most radar arrays, GaN generates less heat and allows more power to be transmitted through the array.

Saab is a pioneer in the technology of GaN designed AESA radar, among other sensors and systems like the Giraffe ground- and sea-based radars, electronic warfare equipment, and with the Erieye ER S-band radar employed in the GlobalEye surveillance aircraft. With more than 30 years of experience in AESA design, Saab has an advantage of using the radar solution to its full extent for a superior air domain awareness amidst dense signal environment.

Read the full story here.

More stories about:

Gripen duriing a dispersed airbase exercise.

Deploy. Survive. Win.

The Gripen fighter system exists to guarantee air superiority in time of war. Sweden’s operational requirements for Gripen were driven by a superpower threat of all-out conflict across air, land and sea. This simple statement hides the highest possible objective; national survival. The result was a fighter from Saab that is threat-driven at every point in its design, and utterly unique.

7 Feb 2024 / By Jörgen Ericsson

Behind the scenes of a Gripen air-to-air photo-shoot

Executing a successful air-to-air photo-shoot requires quite a lot of planning and a bit of luck with the weather. At Saab Aeronautics communications department we made a formal request to the Swedish Air force to use one of their C-130 Hercules and a Gripen C aircraft to be able to shoot footage of the Gripen C and Gripen E flying together.

Brazilian Gripen E conducts IRST tests in simulated aerial combat

The Brazilian Gripen E aircraft with registration FAB 4100, dedicated to tests in Brazil, took part in a flight test campaign in Anápolis (GO) to assess the Infrared Search and Track (IRST), a passive long-range target detection sensor.

The Brazilian Air Force receives another Gripen E.

The fighter jet, with registration FAB 4107, landed at Anápolis Air Base (BAAN) on Friday morning, December 15.

Hungarian Gripen exercised in field conditions

The Adaptive Hussars 2023 exercise of the Hungarian Defence Forces brought pilots, technicians and equipment of the MH Szentgyörgyi Dezső 101st Aviation to the Lake Balaton area. Here, at Sármellék, a former air base used by Soviet Air Force for more than 33 years ago, acted as the new environment for five Hungarian Gripen fighters and its personell.

Gripen fighters at NATO Tiger Meet 2023

Gripen fighters from the two NATO countries Hungary and Czech Republic participated as usual. Both countries have a long story of participation in NATO led exercises and air policing assignments with their Gripens and NATO Tiger Meet is not an exception.

Saab concludes production of the first rear fuselage of the Gripen fighter in Brazil

The structure, produced in São Bernardo do Campo, is part of the first batch of locally manufactured aerostructures set to be transported to Gavião Peixoto, where the final assembly line is situated.

Decisive combat effectiveness – unique lethality of Gripen E

As a first, the objective of your fighter system - and the men and women who operate it – is to maintain the control and integrity of your sovereign territory. To do this, the fighter needs to successfully enter and to remain alive in a highly contested, presumably hostile high threat environment, complete the tasked mission, and safely return to base.

Unique tests of the oxygen and anti-g system enables testing of Gripen F in extreme conditions

The development of Gripen F is currently in full swing at various locations, both in Sweden and Brazil. In the Life Support rig, installed in a unique high-altitude chamber at Saab in Linköping, the aircraft's systems are pushed to their limits. Everything to deliver the safest possible aircraft to the customer.

Controlling the Electromagnetic spectrum - creating air dominance

Electronic Warfare (EW) commonly refers to military action involving use of Electro-Magnetic (EM) and Directed Energy (DE) effectors. Over decades, modern EW has grown leaps and bounds from the days of simple jamming of radars and radio communication systems.