Gripen's Impressive Weapon System
Gripen being a truly versatile multirole fighter, it can be equipped with ordnance that supports all types of missions, from offensive and defensive counter strikes to air policing and tactical air reconnaissance.
Episode 7 of True Collaboration Season 3 talks about Gripen’s weapon flexibility and how that gives the fighter its multirole or swing-role capabilities.
Gripen can be integrated with a large ensemble of weapons that include missiles, bombs, and pods. From guided glide bombs for precision engagement with low collateral damage, to long-range and agile air-to-air missiles and heavy anti-ship armaments, a Gripen operator can integrate any weapon of their choice to Gripen. This is made possible by its hardware-agnostic split avionics design which allows updates or changes to be made without the need to re-certify the flight critical software.
“It's much faster to integrate a new weapon on the Gripen platform than any other platform,” says Johan Segertoft, Deputy Head of Programme Management, Gripen E/F, Saab.
According to Lte Col Av Maurício Côrte Real, Manager of the Fox Group- Brazilian Air Force, each mission is different just as each weapon has its own characteristics. “Depending on the scenario and on the target, you have to select a certain type of weapon, according to the damage that you want to inflict or avoid,” he adds.