Saab Gripen

[haltonapp]

Did the Swedish Government get it right when they demanded the most economic, multi-role aircraft possible when the Gripen was conceived in the 1980's. According to the article in todays Times, its cost is less than half that of the Typhoon, and its cost per flight hour is a quarter of that for the Typhoon. with not that much reduction in performance. Not surprisingly it is selling well!

[Heathrow Harry]

Horses for courses

Sweden wanted a fast multi-role aircraft that didn't cost too much - it only has a single engine which is probably acceptable given their geography. They never planned a full on attack on Russia but just to have enough power to make it a tough swallow

The Eurofighter nations wanted a powerful multi-role aircraft that was (eventually) going to replace things like Tornado, Phantom, F-104S, Lightning etc etc They envisioned a full-on war against the Warsaw pact and so needed a more complex aircraft

trouble is the world has changed and cots are now more important than capability in most of the world