Saab achieved the first flight of the Gripen Demo from the company’s Linköping airfield in Sweden on May 27. Crewed by test pilots Mikael Siedl and Magnus Ljungdahl, the flawless 30-minute flight marked the start of a three-year campaign, during which the fighter will demonstrate a wide range of new technologies destined for the Gripen Next Generation aircraft, as well as options for existing models.
At first glance the Gripen Demo looks like any other two-seater, but a closer examination reveals a much-changed lower central fuselage and wingroot area. By moving the main undercarriage units from the lower fuselage to fairings under the wingroots, greater internal fuel capacity is provided–an increase of 40 percent to 7,275 pounds. The extra clearance during undercarriage retraction allows two large stores pylons to be fitted under the fuselage either side of the existing centerline hardpoint.
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