Swedish Minister for Defence Sten Tolgfors talks about Gripen Success Story

Swedish Minister for Defence, Sten Tolgfors

4/25/2008 | Your Excellences, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 

I am very proud to be able to address you on this great occasion. It is a proud day for Sweden. Gripen is one of our most ambitious and advanced high tech projects ever.

One of my first actions as newly appointed Minister for Defence last year, was to approve the configuration of our entire aircraft fleet to one single standard, to the C/D version and to initiate a Demonstrator Program during the years 2007–2010 aiming to give the foundations for future decisions on further development of all Gripen aircraft.

Simultaneously we will decrease the fleet to a number of 100 Swedish aircraft. All to create a cost effective and capability optimised Air Force for today’s and future needs in national and international defence-keeping and security-assurance.

By this Sweden showed the world our long lasting commitment to the Gripen system. It is our firm intention to keep an homogeneous and interoperable aircraft fleet.

The Demonstrator program will for instance create new technologies and technical solutions for the next generation of fighter aircraft systems . This means that the countries operating the Gripen system today and in the future will be standing on firm ground and will have access to all necessary information when the time comes for the final decision.

The demonstrator program will serve both the development of the Gripen Next Generation and generate knowledge which will provide new capabilities for the C/D-version.

Apart from Sweden, Gripen has also been selected by the South African Air Force, the Czech Air Force, the Hungarian Air Force as well as recently by the Thai Air Force. The Gripen programmes with those countries are explicit examples of what the Swedish Government and industries can achieve through close collaboration with the respective Government and industries in those countries.

It is obvious that these projects are the catalyst for a wide-ranging co-operation between our countries and we do look forward to further opportunities in Defence materiel co-operation as well as in other fields. Gripen is also being considered as a prime Air Defence Fighter by a number of other countries, both NATO member states, and others worldwide, to meet their 21st century defence needs. Thus, the Gripen system over the next 30-40 years will be the core of Sweden’s and a number of other countries’ defence systems. Through cooperative efforts among user countries and future developments it will continue to be at the forefront of technology.

For the future we see a lot of prosperous potential in the growing cooperation between the Nordic countries within the defence area. Here, as in many areas, our close neighbour Norway has been a most reliable and creative partner. Of course it would be a remarkable step forward would Norway and Denmark choose the Gripen way for its new fighter fleet. Such a decision would also generate a number of other areas of cooperation far beyond the field of defence to the benefit of all parties.

The Gripen is very competitive and meets great interest on the international market right now. The reasons are obvious. Gripen presents cutting edge technology, full interoperability, verifiable costs for purchase and operation, verifiable industrial co-operation solutions and long term co-operation in technical development. It all adds up to a very beneficial package.

All in all, Saab has made impressive efforts. A lot of subcontractor firms and companies have also taken the step to financially join the demonstrator program. We have a MOU with Denmark concerning information exchange. The government of Norway has decided to be an active partner in the demonstrator program. For this I am particularly pleased.

I am pleased to see representatives of countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America here today. Goes to show the international co-operation Gripen has become today.