Swedish manufacturer Saab offers to build 96 Gripen fighters in India

Swedish company is competing for a $20-billion IAF order

In a bid to win a $20-billion Indian Air Force (IAF) order for 114 combat planes, Swedish manufacturer Saab has offered to build 96 Gripen fighter jets in India.
 
The order, seeks commitment from vendors about their willingness to supply sensitive technologies as well as carry out bulk of their manufacturing in India.
 
The IAF issued a request for information (RFI) in April to procure 114 fighter jets under the strategic partnership model and most of them will be built in India by an Indian private partner under technology transfer. IAF is currently evaluating the proposals, which include Gripen from Sweden’s SAAB.

 

“Except the first 18 aircraft, we intend to manufacture everything in India. SAAB will look to build an ecosystem of defence manufacturing inside the country,” Ola Rignell, chairman and managing director, Saab India, said in an interview. Rignell said the company was already scouting for other offset partners in India.
 
The company has tied up with Adani Defence, the manufacturing arm of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani’s Adani Group. Saab’s probable rivals — Dassault, Boeing and Lockheed — have chosen private players Reliance, Adani and Tata as their partners.
 
However, Rignell said if Saab was selected, it would be the prerogative of the central government to choose its local partner. “We would completely leave it to the Indian government to choose who it wants as the local partner. The rule says it’s the government which would select the local partner. We are pitching for Gripen only based on its inherent strength,” Rignell said.

 
Hard selling Gripen, Rignell highlighted the multi-role capability of the jet, adaptability with all types of weapon and its tactical agility as the primary reason why it is best suited for the needs of the IAF. “The RFI also mentions the requirement of day-and-night-capable, all-weather and multi-role combat aircraft. Gripen E is the most advanced multi-role fighter that has been designed to me­et various demanding oper­­ational requirements of air forces today. The fighter cannot only seamlessly shift bet­w­een its air-to-air, air-to-gro­und and reconnaissance rol­es, but also act in multiple roles simultaneously,” Rignell said.
 
The Gripen, which is powered by the American GE-414 engine, is the same variant in which the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is based.

 
It is competing against Boeing’s F/A-18, Lockheed Martin’s  F-16, Dassault Aviation’s Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Lock­heed Martin has offered to shift its F-16 production to India.