Aircraft
First Gripen E for Sweden Flies
With the flight of the first series aircraft for Sweden, Saab now has five Gripen Es in the air, including one destined for the Brazilian air force.
Shades of the past: the first production Swedish Gripen E wears a splinter camouflage. (photo: Saab)
Shades of the past: the first production Swedish Gripen E wears a splinter camouflage. (photo: Saab)

The first series production Gripen E for Sweden has made its initial flight, piloted by Försvarets Materielverk (FMV, defense materiel administration) test pilot Henrik Wänseth, Saab announced on December 3. Serialed 6002, the aircraft displayed a new three-tone gray splinter camouflage that is redolent of the “fields and meadows” worn for many years by Swedish military aircraft. Whether this becomes the standard scheme is questionable: FMV noted on its Instagram account that the paint scheme is “different on the different aircraft” and is “part of the tests.”