Costs
Low costs for the whole of Gripen's lifecycle. Gripen is designed for minimal cost in terms of logistics support and maintenance.
Image: Photo Swiss Airforce.
Cost of ownership was catered for in the aircraft design from its very beginnings since this was one of the driving requirements set by the Swedish customer.
Lowest lifecycle costs
Compared with its rivals, Gripen has the lowest lifecycle costs over the planned operating period of at least 30 years. Swiss taxpayers will have less to pay and the Defence Department has the flexibility it needs over the coming decades to adjust its armed forces to changing requirements.
The lifecycle cost for Gripen is much lower compared to other generic heavy twin-engine fighters.
Gripen costs less
Gripen costs much less to buy than the other competing aircraft, which means more fighters for the same money. What is more, annual operating costs are only half as high. This is because of the following:
- Major cost advantages in terms of maintenance and fuel usage thanks to the efficient single engine.
- Fewer people required to maintain the aircraft.
- Gripen is the same size as the F-5 Tiger, so the existing infrastructure can be used without having to make expensive changes.
- Average time between failures is longer than that of its competitors.
Average time to repair is shorter than that of its competitors.
- Technical updates are primarily software based – so do not require as many expensive changes to hardware.
Over the full lifecycle, 22 Gripen fighters would be at least CHF 2 billion lower than a comparable fleet of rival aircraft.