Ahead of and as the Aero India exhibition enters its second day, the Swedish Gripen new generation fighter and the Saab/Gripen International team behind it, have already made a big impact in Indian aerospace and defence circles.
Indian Air Force Chief Tyagi Visits Gripen team
This week has seen visits to the Gripen Pavilion from many key Indian and international visitors. Notable amongst these, was the joint visit of Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshall S P Tyagi and the next Chief of the Air Force, Air Marshall Major. During the visit, they both had extensive discussions with Gripen International’s Director, India Tony Ogilvy, Gripen International’s Sales & Marketing Director Bob Kemp and Chief of the Swedish Air Force Jan Andersson.
The Gripen team was also honoured with a visit from former Chief of the Indian Air Force Krishnaswamy, who became the first VIP guest to ‘fly’ the brand new state-of-the-art Gripen Cockpit Simulator (GCS), making its world debut at Aero India.
Other VIP visitors to the Gripen Pavilion included the new Swedish Ambassador to New Delhi Lars Olaf Lindgren, the Malaysian Under-Secretary of Defence Industry, Ministry of Defence and US Air Force Director of the Defence Security Co-operation Agency, Lt.Gen.Jeffrey B. Kohler.
It was also a great pleasure to also have visits from the Air Force Chiefs, or senior representatives, from nearly all of Gripen’s worldwide customer operators. It was a great pleasure to welcome Lt.Gen.Carlo Gagiano Chief of the South African Air Force, who have 26 fighters on order, Maj.Gen. Ladislav Minarik, Chief of the Czech Republic Air Force, who have taken delivery of all of their 14 NATO interoperable fighters, Maj.Gen. Jan Andersson Chief of the Swedish Air Force, who have taken delivery of 190 of its total order of 204 aircraft, and Roger Beazley from the UK’s Empire Test Pilots’ School (ETPS), Gripen’s fifth customer, who operate Gripen as its fast jet platform for test pilots worldwide.
Indian Air Force Commanders Fly Gripen
A key success of the Gripen team’s flying programme this week, has been the series of demonstration flights of senior Indian Air Force commanders in one of the Gripen D two-seaters at the exhibition, in order that they can experience at first hand the exceptional performance of the Gripen new generation fighter. These flights, which are ongoing throughout the exhibition, have already seen such key IAF personalities as Air Commodore Matheswaran, Commandant ASTE, Air Commodore Sharma, Commandant National Flight Test Centre, Air Commodore Nair, Personal Staff Officer to Air Chief Marshall Tyagi, and NFTC test pilot Wing Commander Tivali.
All of these demonstration flights have been flown by experienced Saab Gripen test pilot Richard Ljunberg. Following these flights, and as is traditional for all pilots who make their first flights in Gripen, they were formally inducted into the Gripen Order of Knights in a special ceremony, where each was awarded their Gripen ‘Wings’.
Gripen Cockpit Simulator Launched
The opening day of the exhibition also saw the world launch of the state-of-the-art Gripen Cockpit Simulator (GCS). Throughout the opening day, the GCS was visited by a number of senior IAF dignitaries, including former Air Force Chief Krishnaswamy, IAF pilots and other VIP’s, all of whom were given the opportunity of appreciating the high technology inherent in Gripen’s design and how this ensures Gripen’s outstanding operational performance and combat superiority of the Gripen new generation fighter. The Gripen GCS team will be on hand throughout the week, to assist and support visitors to the simulator [GCS].
3 Gripen Fighters Delight Indian Crowds
The crowds at Aero India have been delighted at the aerial displays performed by all three Gripen new generation fighters. Flying twice a day in the aerial displays and also conducting demonstration flights, the Swedish Air Force pilots and Saab test pilots of the two Gripen D (two seat) and one Gripen C (single-seat) fighters, have demonstrated once again Gripen’s superior reliability and maintainability, with flawless and uninterrupted operational flying with 100% availability.
Gripen Presented in Style at International Seminar
As a ‘curtain raiser’ to the Aero India 2007 exhibition, Gripen was presented in two separate briefings to an international audience including dignitaries from the Indian aerospace community, at the 3-day international seminar on ‘Aerospace Technologies – Challenges and Opportunities’ conducted by the Defence Research & Development Organisation, in association with the Aeronautical Society of India.
Major General (Res.) Staffan Nasstrom, Special Advisor at the Swedish Ministry of Defence, spoke about important features in Swedish development of defence material. In the second briefing, the seminar was briefed by Roger H. Beazley, Aerospace Advisor to the UK’s Empire Test Pilots’ School (QinetiQ), who operate Gripen as its fast jet platform for test pilots from around the world. Mr Beazley’s briefing centred around the need for flight test, and the need for flight test training.
Both briefings attracted much positive response and good interaction between the audience and the speakers. The involvement of these key speakers in this important seminar, presented an ideal opportunity to showcase the superior operational advantages of the Gripen system.