https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2024/05/06/sweden-goes-back-to-the-drawing-board-for-a-next-gen-warplane/
มีข่าวว่า Sweden ขอระงับการเข้าร่วมโครงการ FX-Tempest => Global Combat Air Programme
ออกไปก่อนเพราะเหมือนจะไม่ค่อยจะตรงใจเท่าไหร่ โดย Sweden จะให้ SAAB กลับไปพัฒนาเครื่อง GEN-5/6
เอง เพราะต้องการให้มีความสามรถแบบเดียวกับ Gripen คือ มีค่าใช้จ่ายต่อชั่วโมงต่ำ ขึ้นบินจากถนนได้
ซึ่ง Sweden มี gripen C/D ที่จะปลดราวๆ ปี 2040 และ E/F ที่จะปลดปี 2060 ซึ่งน่าจะเป็นเพราะว่า
1. Sweden อาจจะไปทำตลาด Gen 5/6 Light Fighter
2. และอาจจะพัฒนาให้เป็น Unmaned combat aircarft Platform ไปด้วย
ตามข่าวเค้าว่ามาประมานนี้นะ
MILAN — Amid a rush within NATO to rally around next generation combat aircraft, new alliance member Sweden is taking a pause to assess what’s next for its lineage as a warplane-producing country.
The Nordic state in 2022 suspended its flirtation with one of Europe’s two marquee airpower efforts, the Global Combat Air Programme, an initiative led by the U.K., Italy and Japan that seeks to deliver a sixth-generation fighter capability by 2035.
Gripen DNA
Considering the Gripen fighter will be the backbone of the Swedish Air Force for decades to come, with plans to operate the latest variant, the Gripen E, until 2060, some of its design tenets are expected to bleed into any future Swedish fighter ideas.
“The easy upgradability, robustness allowing for disperse operations from highways, and flight hour costs – these are all characteristics that are a great foundation for a starting point when looking into the next fighter system,” Peter Nilsson, head of Saab’s business unit for advanced programs, told Defense News.
Sweden’s national emergency plans dictate fighter aircraft must be able to use roads as makeshift runways in the event of a crisis.
At a media briefing during the Singapore Airshow in February, Saab’s chief marketing officer, Mikael Franzén, said due to the current threat level in Sweden, the country would operate the Gripen C/D variant for longer than anticipated.
“The C/D versions are to be retired between 2035 and 2040, or beyond, so that the Air Force does not have a dip in readiness and retains full capability during this re-armament period,” Franzén told reporters.
There are now more than 21 operational Gripen E models globally, including test models, and 35 aircraft in production, according to the company.
Franzén also said the Swedish company had improved every system in older C/D models under the Gripen E program, including an upgraded electronic warfare suite and the ability to carry three times more armaments.
When it comes to a future fighter system, Sweden does not plan to go it alone.
“We have a long heritage of international collaboration and will continue working in that way — the Gripen is truly an international fighter, but built in Sweden,” said Saab’s Nilsson. “We’ll continue working with partners from other countries.”
At this point, the studies under contract with the defense ministry are meant to illuminate the trade space in which Swedish leaders will make decisions later on. Focus areas include technology analysis, partnership opportunities, logistics and industrial implications, as well as digital and physical testing of capabilities, according Nilsson
Some hightech areas of interest Saab plans to explore are a mix “between manned and unmanned systems as well as disruptive technologies,” he said.
A unique aspect of Saab’s vision of fighter jets is the company’s specialization on counter stealth technology, which is the discipline of detecting aerial objects designed to be concealed from radar.
At an air warfare conference organized in March by the RUSI think tank, Jonas Grönberg, Saab’s director of strategy for fighter aircraft, said that given the fast paced development of software and hardware systems for signals processing, stealth fighters are bound to increasingly be more discoverable by radars.
“Some military trends we’re seeing influence electronic warfare are radar threats regaining importance and the re-emergence of surveillance radars at low-frequency bands,” he added.
Some older radars function at much lower frequency ranges, which means their wavelengths are considerably longer and capable of effectively spotting most stealth aircraft.
Sweden ระงับการเข้าร่วมโครงการ Tempest ไปก่อน โดยจะไปทำโครงการ Gen-6 เอง น่าจะเป็น Light weight Gen-6 ที่ยังไม่มีไครทำ
มีข่าวว่า Sweden ขอระงับการเข้าร่วมโครงการ FX-Tempest => Global Combat Air Programme
ออกไปก่อนเพราะเหมือนจะไม่ค่อยจะตรงใจเท่าไหร่ โดย Sweden จะให้ SAAB กลับไปพัฒนาเครื่อง GEN-5/6
เอง เพราะต้องการให้มีความสามรถแบบเดียวกับ Gripen คือ มีค่าใช้จ่ายต่อชั่วโมงต่ำ ขึ้นบินจากถนนได้
ซึ่ง Sweden มี gripen C/D ที่จะปลดราวๆ ปี 2040 และ E/F ที่จะปลดปี 2060 ซึ่งน่าจะเป็นเพราะว่า
1. Sweden อาจจะไปทำตลาด Gen 5/6 Light Fighter
2. และอาจจะพัฒนาให้เป็น Unmaned combat aircarft Platform ไปด้วย
ตามข่าวเค้าว่ามาประมานนี้นะ
MILAN — Amid a rush within NATO to rally around next generation combat aircraft, new alliance member Sweden is taking a pause to assess what’s next for its lineage as a warplane-producing country.
The Nordic state in 2022 suspended its flirtation with one of Europe’s two marquee airpower efforts, the Global Combat Air Programme, an initiative led by the U.K., Italy and Japan that seeks to deliver a sixth-generation fighter capability by 2035.
Gripen DNA
Considering the Gripen fighter will be the backbone of the Swedish Air Force for decades to come, with plans to operate the latest variant, the Gripen E, until 2060, some of its design tenets are expected to bleed into any future Swedish fighter ideas.
“The easy upgradability, robustness allowing for disperse operations from highways, and flight hour costs – these are all characteristics that are a great foundation for a starting point when looking into the next fighter system,” Peter Nilsson, head of Saab’s business unit for advanced programs, told Defense News.
Sweden’s national emergency plans dictate fighter aircraft must be able to use roads as makeshift runways in the event of a crisis.
At a media briefing during the Singapore Airshow in February, Saab’s chief marketing officer, Mikael Franzén, said due to the current threat level in Sweden, the country would operate the Gripen C/D variant for longer than anticipated.
“The C/D versions are to be retired between 2035 and 2040, or beyond, so that the Air Force does not have a dip in readiness and retains full capability during this re-armament period,” Franzén told reporters.
There are now more than 21 operational Gripen E models globally, including test models, and 35 aircraft in production, according to the company.
Franzén also said the Swedish company had improved every system in older C/D models under the Gripen E program, including an upgraded electronic warfare suite and the ability to carry three times more armaments.
When it comes to a future fighter system, Sweden does not plan to go it alone.
“We have a long heritage of international collaboration and will continue working in that way — the Gripen is truly an international fighter, but built in Sweden,” said Saab’s Nilsson. “We’ll continue working with partners from other countries.”
At this point, the studies under contract with the defense ministry are meant to illuminate the trade space in which Swedish leaders will make decisions later on. Focus areas include technology analysis, partnership opportunities, logistics and industrial implications, as well as digital and physical testing of capabilities, according Nilsson
Some hightech areas of interest Saab plans to explore are a mix “between manned and unmanned systems as well as disruptive technologies,” he said.
A unique aspect of Saab’s vision of fighter jets is the company’s specialization on counter stealth technology, which is the discipline of detecting aerial objects designed to be concealed from radar.
At an air warfare conference organized in March by the RUSI think tank, Jonas Grönberg, Saab’s director of strategy for fighter aircraft, said that given the fast paced development of software and hardware systems for signals processing, stealth fighters are bound to increasingly be more discoverable by radars.
“Some military trends we’re seeing influence electronic warfare are radar threats regaining importance and the re-emergence of surveillance radars at low-frequency bands,” he added.
Some older radars function at much lower frequency ranges, which means their wavelengths are considerably longer and capable of effectively spotting most stealth aircraft.