Weight Lifting Gripen
 

Saab reveals full Gripen E design, cost savings - 3/13/2014 - Flight Global

States about the new E model ...

"Maximum take-off weight will be 16.5t, with the type’s empty airframe weight accounting for just 20% of this, at around 3t."

Is there anything else flying that can lift 5 times it's empty weight or more?

The article also states :

"The Swedish air force lists its current per-hour operating cost with the type as being around SKr48,000 ($7,560)."

I know it is easy to get into a comparing apples with oranges at the cost game but it does seem an order of magnitude less than the prices quoted for other aircraft.





TR

The engine alone weighs about 2500lbs, if that airframe weighs only 6000lbs then there is a lot of standard kit not accounted for.

Never trust the media... I suspect that this article is slightly misleading regarding the weights.

Either SAAB have managed to halve the empty weight of the E variant compared to the previous versions of the Gripen... or maybe the writer of the article has confused lbs and Kgs when discovering a 20% headline grabbing number (apples and oranges indeed!). Even for a plastic aircraft, an empty mass of 3 tonnes would be amazingly light if the max take off weight is above 16 tonnes - the RM12 engine weighs in at over 1 tonne by itself! I suspect 'empty air frame weight' does not equate to dry mass (no engine, no avionics etc I suspect)...

Edit - ninja'd!

Its been discussed elsewhere, and further reading indicates that that is literally "airframe only weight" - all avionics removed, engine out, seat uninstalled, etc - just the actual airframe.