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The Royal Thai Air Force dispatched Gripen fighters to participate in the Pitch Black exercise.
Saab has finally secured an export win for its Gripen fighter after besting a rival offer from Lockheed Martin in the hotly contested race to provide additional combat aircraft to Thailand.
The deal ends a prolonged drought of foreign orders for Saab and the JAS-39E/F Gripen. Sweden formally launched the program more than a decade ago, and Brazil joined soon after, effectively as a partner. But since then, Saab has lost out in several competitions—typically to Lockheed Martin’s F-16 or its more modern F-35—although Hungary, a user of older Gripen C/Ds, this year said it would buy four more aircraft. The timing of the Thai decision could be fortuitous for Saab as it competes for deals in the Philippines and Colombia.
“This is clearly very positive for Saab and for Sweden, but at this point there is no contract or any order in place,” Saab said.
- Thailand plans to replace older-model F-16s
- Philippine fighter program heats up amid regional concerns
Bangkok says it selected the Gripen E/F to replace a squadron of Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs stationed at Korat air base. The U.S. company was bidding a more modern version, the F-16C/D Block 70. The Thai government, in an Aug. 27 announcement, did not specify how many of the Saab aircraft it was buying, although the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) had previously said it was looking to field 12-14 aircraft between 2025 and 2034.
The Thai competition has been closely watched despite the relatively modest size of the acquisition. It effectively pitted two incumbents against each other. The RTAF operates older versions of both fighter types.
The RTAF, in a statement announcing the winner, said that 10 months of evaluation helped it conclude that the Gripen meets its strategic needs and that the system would allow the country to foster its requirements for network-centric operations. The Swedish offer also comes with fewer strings attached, the RTAF said. The service regularly exercises with China’s air force using its Gripens rather than the F-16.
A key factor in the fighter decision was expected to be battlefield connectivity. One of the Thai squadrons of upgraded F-16A/B aircraft is equipped with a Link 16 data link, while the squadron of Gripen C/Ds are equipped with the indigenous Link-T, developed with assistance from Saab. The decision in favor of Gripen could extend the Link-T network.
The data link question was in focus during the recent Pitch Black exercise, when the RTAF dispatched five of its Gripens, upgraded to the MS20 standard, to Darwin, Australia. The upgraded aircraft feature an enhanced avionics capability and can carry MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles.
Saab reportedly offered to upgrade Thailand’s Erieye airborne early warning aircraft to give the two delivered more than a decade ago true aircraft-to-aircraft data link and airborne control intercept capabilities.
Sweden, in the run-up to the decision, said its offset package would exceed the contract value through a long-term plan that covers key areas of critical technologies and national capabilities.
Lockheed also dangled an offset package it said would include items such as establishment of a research and development center. The Thai government suggested the U.S. had offered a low-interest loan to help finance the purchase, too.
Thailand has further fighter modernization ambitions. The country will need to replace another batch of F-16 A/Bs, but those are more modern and likely will remain in service until around 2035.
The spotlight for fighter competitions in Asia now shifts to the Philippines and its Multi-Role Fighter (MRF) program that unfolds as Manila is increasingly concerned about China’s belligerence in its immediate vicinity. In addition to Lockheed and Saab, Korea Aerospace Industries is offering the KF-21 even as it separately tries to sell Manila more FA-50s in a configuration upgraded from the version it sold a decade earlier.
As with Thailand, bidders are offering deal sweeteners. In May, the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration and the Philippine Department of National Defense signed an agreement on procurement of defense materiel and equipment, which could lay the foundation for a Gripen purchase. Additionally, the U.S. government approved a $500 million foreign military financing package but did not directly link it to an F-16 purchase. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, however, said in a July 30 press conference in Manila that the financing would help fund a “once-in-a-generation investment.”
The Philippine Air Force’s concerns go beyond aircraft. Ahead of the service’s Pitch Black participation with four FA-50s, Col. Randy Pascua, the detachment commander, said “we need to train a lot more pilots,” especially if the combat fleet more than doubles with the acquisition of an MRF.
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