JaS 39 Gripen (Swedish: JAS 39 Gripen Chinese) is a light fourth-generation fighter developed by the Swedish Saab Group, JAS39 has a versatile, highly adaptable feature, which lies in the combination of advanced technology and effective ergonomics. Lightweight and robust construction (with 1/4 composite), delta wing design, artificial reinforcement and all-weather fly-by-wire maneuvering, engine RM12 (GEF404) including rear burner, high-performance lightweight radar and other systems are all combined in a way suitable for pilot operation.
The JAS-39 is currently in service with the Swedish, Czech, Hungarian, South African, Thai air forces, and is currently in service in the Brazilian Air Force.
The Swedish JAS-39 Gripen fighter is a single-seat all-weather all-weather full-altitude combat/attack/reconnaissance aircraft developed by saab in Sweden to replace the Swedish Air Force's Saab-37 Ray fighter in the 1990s.
The JAS-39 Gripen fighter was developed by the Swedish aerospace industry group SAAB and has a single-seat JAS 39A and a two-seat instructor JAS 39B (JAS is an abbreviation for JAKT, ATTACK, SPANING, meaning interception/attack/reconnaissance).
The Gripen is designed according to the principle of decentralized configuration of the Swedish Air Force, and can be used as a take-off and landing runway in the domestic road network. The maintenance of the Gripen is simple and rapid: a group of ground crews refuel and rearm for the second lift-off, the process does not exceed 10 minutes.
The JAS39 can fly freely under 9G overload through all-weather fly-by-wire operation, and is known as the "Nordic patron saint".
The power plant uses General Electric's RM12 engine, due to the improvement of the control system and the materials used, the efficiency of the afterburner has been significantly improved, the new high-performance low-pressure system has also contributed to the increase of thrust, and the fan and air intake have been enhanced to prevent the impact of birds. The main airborne equipment is Eriksen's PS-05/A multifunction pulsed multi-spectrum radar, which can guide the search and tracking of several targets at the same time, and the 3 most dangerous targets can be selected to attack.
The radar also provides exploration and tracking of land and sea targets, as well as high-resolution depiction and ranging of targets; These features are also suitable for reconnaissance missions, where radar data can be transmitted directly back to the ground.
The armament has a 27 mm Mauser BK27 aerial gun, and there are 7 external mount points, and the wingtip hang point can be hung with infrared and radar-guided air-to-air missiles such as "Sidewinder" and "Sky Flash". Heavy air-to-ship missiles, air-to-ground missiles, bombs and reconnaissance pods can be hung under the wings.
Weight and load: practical empty weight 6622 kg, maximum take-off weight (without external mount) 13000 kg.
Performance data: maximum level flight speed M1.2 (sea level) M2.0 (high altitude), take-off and landing distance of 800 meters (easy runway), limit overload 9g.
The F404 engine used by Gripen comes from the United States, the air-to-air missile is also the American AIM-120 and AIM-9, and even Sweden's proudest canard-wing layout can not be played, it can not independently complete the research and development of fly-by-wire flight control system and control software, and it is the canard wing layout of the Gripen fighter that makes the American counterparts realize its difficulty, and the Two stealth fighters of the United States F-22 and F-35 have decisively given up. Gripen encountered various difficulties in the layout of the canard wing at the prototype stage, and two crashes made Sweden almost desperate, but fortunately, with the help of the famous Lockheed Martin, Gripen was able to successfully put into production, explaining that Saab's dependence on Lockheed was seriously deepened, which was very unfavorable to Gripen's export business.
With the obsolescence of the third generation of aircraft, Saab really tasted the weakness of small countries! The fourth generation of aircraft that burns money is not something that Sweden can consider, and France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, which are richer and more technologically powerful than it, cannot afford to complete it alone, and Sweden can only turn to the development of three and a half generations of fighters, which is a significant upgrade of the avionics Gripen E\F program. But also encountered very difficult technical problems, in order to obtain avionics equipment close to the fourth generation of aircraft, Saab can only unconditionally cooperate with foreign companies to obtain technical assistance, the British BAE company took advantage of the void, with the output of avionics equipment almost became the biggest beneficiary of Gripen.
With the popularity of stealth fourth-generation aircraft, Sweden wants to maintain the status of the aviation industry as a major country, it must launch corresponding products, but Gripen E\F has been reduced to the assembly of General Dynamics, Lockheed, BAE parts, the entire project Saab's income is not much, Sweden is really unable to develop a more complex stealth fourth-generation aircraft, maybe Gripen is the end of this legend.