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If War With North Korea Comes, What Are the U.S. Military's Most Powerful Weapons? If a war broke out between the U.S. and North Korea, the U.S. military would have an array of powerful weapons at its disposal that would give it a massive advantage over the rogue state. The U.S. military is ranked number one in the world in terms of overall capabilities, while North Korea's military comes in 23rd place, according to the 2017 ranking of the world's militaries from the Global Firepower Index. Here are five of the most powerful and advanced weapons the U.S. has at its disposal, which help explain why it has the mightiest military in the world:

Attended Around 110,000 Visitors For The First Time The Swedish fighter JAS-39 Gripen flew in the Czech Republic. About 110,000 Visitors Attend This Weekend’s NATO Days in Mosnov. About 110,000 people visited the NATO Days and the Czech Air Force Days at Ostrava’s Mosnov airport this weekend, the organisers told CTK. On Saturday the attendance was 85,000, falling to 25,000 on Sunday, in part due to the worse weather. The event offered several premiere shows. On Saturday, visitors could see for the first time a flight of the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II plane, piloted by the Dutch air force.

It Is Time To Arm Cyprus. Forty-five years ago, the U.S. Congress imposed an arms embargo on Cyprus. “Defense articles of United States origin may not be transferred to or used on Cyprus by Turkey or Greece,” the amendment to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act read. The logic of the arms embargo was two-fold: deny weaponry in order to encourage diplomacy and avoid a regional arms race. It failed. Not only did the embargo punish Cyprus for Turkey’s invasion more than a decade before, but subsequent diplomacy also went nowhere. Turkey simply doubled down on its occupation. Today, Turkey uses its military might to occupy portions of Syria and Iraq, threaten Greece, and it pursues ethnic cleansing against Kurds, Yezidis, and Armenians. Egemen Bagis, one of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s closest advisors and today his ambassador in Prague, even threatened to use force against Americans. Over the past two years, Turkey has shredded the status quo on the island with unilateral moves toward Varosha. It has even established a drone base at an airstrip in occupied northern Cyprus from which it can threaten much of the Eastern Mediterranean. Two years ago, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo moved to right the wrong and roll back the arms embargo. In practice, however, the Pentagon only chipped away at it, though, providing Cyprus non-lethal goods. As the Biden administration considers the future of the embargo, it is time to do far more and arm Cyprus. The reasons to do so are multifold: First, it helps Ukraine. Because of the unilateral American embargo, much of Cyprus’ weaponry today is Soviet or Russian in origin. The country’s National Guard still uses Russian rifles, rocket propelled grenades. It drives Russian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, and flies Russian helicopters among others. Cypriot artillery is Russian, Yugoslavian, or from elsewhere in the former Eastern bloc. While Israel reportedly is providing its Iron Dome defense to the island, much of Cyprus’ existing air defense is also Russian in origin. As Western European countries resist the provision of weaponry and equipment to Ukraine because they fear either depleting their stocks or because their rhetorical support for Ukraine’s resistance surpasses their actual willingness to aid Kyiv, Cypriot equipment could be available and because Ukraine also traditionally relies on Russian and East Bloc equipment, would require no retraining. This, however, would require the United States to replace it. Doing so would fulfill a U.S. national interest. As Erdogan has driven Turkey away from the West, Cyprus has embraced the West fully and without precondition. It deserves Washington’s unflinching support.

Meet The A-36: The Supersonic Bomber Designed To Hit Russia With Nuclear Weapons. The Project 1300 bomber was Sweden’s effort to build a bomber that could fly at supersonic speed to hit Russia with a nuclear weapon – or at least deter Russia from doing the same. The plane is also known as the A-36 – and it was never built: During the 1950s Sweden may have maintained a policy of neutrality, yet it still sought to develop a rather well-stocked arsenal of domestically-produced military hardware. From 1952-57 the Scandinavian nation even conducted a feasibility study to develop a delta-wing supersonic bomber that would have a nuclear strike capability.

Hunted by many countries! Slovak government buys combat vehicle for €1.6bn from Sweden CV90 The Slovak government will buy 152 tracked CV90 armored fighting vehicles (AFC) and tracked armored vehicles from Swedish defense company BAE Systems/Hägglunds in a deal worth more than €1.6bn, said Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad, the Slovak News Agency reported. Slovakia should receive the first batch of vehicles in 2025, with further deliveries to be made in 2026-2028. The deal will be through a government-to-government agreement.

The JAS 39 Gripen Fighter Would Make Russian Generals Scream The JAS 39 has been recently suggested by some for service in Ukraine as Kyiv is desperate for any sort of Western fighter jets. How would it perform against Russia’s best jets? We do know one thing: the JAS 39 has one amazing reputation and could certainly give Moscow a run for its money. With Sweden (and Finland) on the cusp of joining NATO, after decades of neutrality, let’s take a look at Sweden’s most impressive fighter: the homegrown Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Many Americans associate Saab exclusively with their automobiles. Saab models, like the 900, 9-3, and 9-5, were popular amongst American consumers before the company’s car division ceased operations in 2011. What most Americans likely fail to appreciate is that Saab was originally, and is still currently, an aerospace and defense company. Founded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1937, the company has a proud history of weapons and aircraft development. Saab is well known for their lineage of fighter jets, including the Tunnan, Lansen, Draken, and Viggen.

The F 14 Tomcat Nearly Had A Fatal Flaw Top Gun could have gone bad. After watching both the Tom Cruise movies, you probably thought the F-14 Tomcat had no problem intercepting enemy airplanes and winning supremacy in the skies. You wouldn’t guess the Tomcat had an issue that almost sank the U.S. Navy’s prized fighter. Its early engines did not work well and even led to the loss of some 40 airplanes. Tomcat and TF30 Engine: A Match Made In Hell. Not to pick on Pratt & Whitney too much, but its TF30 engines were not a good match for the Tomcat. They were meant for another era and another airplane. They had been designed for the Air Force and Navy’s F-111B, which was one of the most troublesome airplanes of the 1960s, and more of a bomber than a fighter. The TF30 was supposed to power the F-111B to MACH 2 speeds. But the F-111B had numerous compressor stalls that could cause an emergency shutdown.

Northrop Grumman makes new changes to the M230LF. While the number of M230LF cannons is increasing among the US military, a number of international customers are showing a strong interest in the 30×113 mm light weapon originally developed to become the automatic gun installed on the AH-64 Apache helicopter and then declined in the link-fed version for land and naval role, John McCollum, Director Business Development of the Guns Operating Unit at Northrop Grumman stated during an online update briefing. Following the M230LF fielding in theatre in different roles the US military, which call it XM914, issued a Request for Information for additional M-LIDS (Mobile-Low, slow, small unmanned aircraft Integrated Defeat System) in which the Northrop Grumman chain gun finding is the hard-kill Counter-UAS effector. With a weight less than 73 kg without ammunition and a recoil force of less than 7,400 N, it can be fitted to many RCWS designed for hosting 12.7 mm heavy machine guns. The M230LF chain gun can shoot single shot, controlled burst, and full automatic, in the latter mote the firing rate reaching 200 rounds per minute, and provides a lethality range of over 2,000 meters. resource news : https://www.youtube.com/user/northropgrummanmedia video by : https://www.youtube.com/user/northropgrummanmedia

This is the greatness of the Swedish combat vehicle the MSHORAD! On August 30th Saab organised a demonstration of its recently unveiled MSHORAD (Medium Short Range Air Defence) system at the Karlskoga firing range. Fifteen delegations from all continents took part in the event, that saw live firings of five RBS 70 NG missiles against different targets and in various tactical situations. This event was anticipated by EDR On-Line in a previous article written after the Ground Combat Demonstration 2022 that took place in early May, in which the MSHORAD system was extensively depicted. In that event the Mobile Firing Unit (MFU) was on display, and EDR On-Line was fully briefed on that vehicle-mounted system. We will therefore focus this article mostly on the add-on information provided on the Mobile Radar Unit (MRU) and on trials.

Here's the greatness of Electronic Warfare systems protect the Gripen E The first speaker in the row was Jussi Halmetoja who is currently the company Operations Advisor, Analyst, Air Domain. A Swedish fighter pilot, he logged over 2,300 flight hours, part of them as test pilot, and ended his military career at the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) as responsible for Gripen E requirements and head of air-to-air missiles programmes, he joined Saab in 2019. “Foreseeable threats give us a very rigid set of requirement that we have to work on,” Jussi Halmetoja states in his opening remarks, considering SU-57 and SU-75, as well as hypersonic cruise missiles and long range ground-based air defence missiles as the threats the Gripen E will face in the coming years. Compared to its predecessor, the Gripen C/D, the “Echo” model looks pretty similar from the outside. “As warfighters the most significant differences are the reinforced structure, which means we can carry 30% more internal fuel and fly at full-g and full angle-of-attack even at full load,” something quite unique in the fighters scenario according to the former Viggen and Gripen pilot. The new engine, the GE 414 that replaces the GE 404, gives 25-30% extra thrust, which is just short of 100 kN, providing increased acceleration performances, especially at lower flight levels. On the lethality side, the increased number of hardpoints allows carrying seven long-range missiles and two short-range ones, which means four more long-range missiles compared to the Gripen E predecessor. These extra performances do not change the capability of quick turn-around in dispersed areas; the typical Swedish Air Force team being made of four conscripts and one officer; compared to the Gripen D the extra fuel and missiles increased the average turn-around time from 10 to 15 minutes,

BIg Floods In china - 16 killed, many missing in northwest China floods. Sixteen people were killed and many left missing in flash flooding in northwest China, state media reported Thursday, as the country battles extreme weather that has shuttered factories and caused rolling power cuts. The deluge comes during a summer of soaring temperatures and torrential rains in China, with multiple cities clocking their hottest days on record and floods causing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage. Floods hit this week in a mountainous region of Datong county in Qinghai province, affecting more than 6,200 people from six villages, state broadcaster CCTV said. Photos of the aftermath showed roads covered in mud, uprooted trees, damaged homes and rescue workers carrying shovels. "As of noon on the 18th, 16 people have been killed," added CCTV, saying that rescue work was ongoing. At least 18 people are missing and 20 have since been rescued, and a "frontline headquarters" has been set up to organise the emergency response, according to state media reports.

Despite Lack of Sales, SAAB's Gripen Successfully Demonstrates Mobile Short-Range Air Defense System. SAAB's Gripen fighter jet recently demonstrated its Mobile Short-Range Air Defense (MSHORAD) system. This he did in his first live shooting in Karlskoga, Sweden, on August 30, 2022. Where the shooting was carried out in the presence of 15 national delegates, the company said in a press release on September 5, 2022. The Swedish company said the system was able to identify, track and shoot multiple targets during the fire. a total of five firings were carried out with the company's RBS 70 NG missiles. Two of these are fired from the Mobile Firing Unit (MFU), mounted on the MARS-S330 mobility vehicle, and the remaining three in the man-portable air defense system. (MANPADS). On the other hand, the entire MSHORAD system consists of Mobile Radar Units. These are also based on the Giraffe 1X radar, Mobile Firing Unit (MFU), based on RBS 70 NG missiles, and are all linked to GBAD SAAB Command And Control (C2). "This successful firing proves that we have a fully interoperable mobile air defense solution." This shooting highlights the value of a single supplier capable of delivering everything from radar to firing units, including the GBAD C2 solution,” said Stefan berg, Head of SAAB's Missile Systems business unit, in a press release. Launching Military Watch Magazine, the Swedish Gripen has not been successful in selling for the last eight years.

Sweden’s Gripen E vs. America’s F-35A: Which Single Engine Fighter is the Best Sweden’s Gripen E vs. America’s F-35A: Which Single Engine Fighter is the Best Choice for Export Clients? The Swedish Gripen E and American F-35A are the only two Western single engine fighters both in production and on order by their producing countries, and were the two frontrunners to supply the Royal Canadian Air Force with a new generation of aircraft to replace its ageing CF-18A/B jets. Both the Gripen and the F-35 have a great deal in common, including being designed to prioritise low costs both to produce and to operate relative to other aircraft of their generations, and having somewhat unremarkable flight performances but focusing on advanced avionics and beyond visual range capabilities. There is also a great deal to distinguish them, most notably that the F-35 is a fifth generation fighter while the Gripen E is a modernisation of the fourth generation Gripen and is considered a ‘4+ generation’ design. Where the F-35 was developed under the world’s largest weapons program, and it is expected that over 2000 will be built despite possible deep cuts, the Gripen E is unlikely to see more than 200 airframes built with limited orders from the Swedish Air Force and only one success on export markets. The F-35 was developed as part of an international project involving eight program partners, while the Gripen was developed by Sweden but heavily dependant on imported components to compensate for the limitations of the small European country’s industrial base and defence sector. The Gripen’s most complex inputs are largely of foreign origin, including an American F414 engine and a sensor suite and Meteor long range air to air missiles sourced from elsewhere in Europe. While both the F-35 and Gripen are single engine fighters, the two are at opposite ends of the spectrum with the F-35 being approximately twice as heavy and its F135 engine having over three times the thrust of the Gripen’s F414. The American fighter’s most notable strength is its radar evading stealth profile, which significantly improves survivability against both ground based air defences and enemy aircraft, while the Gripen’s radar cross section although small by fourth generation standards still leaves it far more vulnerable. A key advantage of the F-35 is that as part of a far larger program it is not only produced on a far bigger scale, making it more cost effective due to economies of scale particularly considering the very small production lines for the Gripen and other European jets. The larger size of the program also ensures much more investment in research and development to continue to modernise the design likely past the middle fo the century, where Sweden’s ability to continue to provide upgrades for the Gripen remains highly questionable particularly as the aircraft is expected to be phased out of service much sooner in the Swedish Air Force than the F-35 is in the U.S. The F-35 also has the advantage of being much more widely used making spare parts readily available from allies, where the Gripen remains relatively rare and could be far more difficult to obtain parts for.

How does the American C 5 Super Galaxy cargo plane Transport Large Tanks and Armored Vehicles this is the genius prowess of the galaxy c5 plane is one of the workhorses of the United States military and is integral to moving heavy weapons and artillery like the howitzer m109 a6 this paladin each of these heavy guns is 10 feet wide and 30 feet long and weighs about 27 and a half tons even though the c5's ample cargo space has more than enough space to occupy these two monster weapons loading it inside is no easy task, it takes a lot of people working together to guide the driver back to the cargo hold where he can be strapped for safe transport galaxy c5 is what is known as strategic air carrier it is a large scale military transport plane designed with a special nose cone that can open and closes for fast loading and unloading.

US Air Force is ready to launch its 7th generation fighter jet with its secret concept The USA is testing Its New " 7th Generation " Fighter Jet | Russia and China shocked. In the process of creating the sixth generation fighter, which we already talked about in one of our videos, the developers came up with two options for using fighter aircraft in the war of the future. The unbelievable happened - the neural network suggested the idea. However, it turned out to be impossible to combine multidirectional characteristics in one aircraft. Therefore, the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program was supplemented by a second project - a seventh generation fighter. Most likely, aircraft of the sixth and seventh generations will appear simultaneously. What will be the seventh generation fighter, and how did the United States manage to make a breakthrough in the development of new aircraft? #usa #new #testing #7th-generation #fighter #jet #russia #china

Russian Pilot Vs JAS Gripen deadly battle 39 Why Russian Pilots Would Sweat Bullets In A Dogfight With A JAS 39 Gripen Sweden, while not considered a sizeable military power, does have the ability to build some of the best fighter jets on the planet today. That is why we asked Christian D. Orr, a respected and top-level defense expert, to explain and analyze why the JAS 39 is such a powerful fighter – and why Russia is not so happy about joining NATO. There is a lot of activity surrounding the development and interest of the Swedish Air Force fighter aircraft, among them the Saab 37 Viggen. Sweden, together with its Scandinavian sister country Finland, have made the important decision to join NATO. This, in turn, sparked a surprisingly new round of interest in the Swedish military's weapons systems and capabilities, particularly the Viggen's successor, the JAS 39 Gripen.

Monster Moves: What Made The F-15 So Killer In Combat It Never Lost When determining what is truly worthy of being described as the “Greatest Of All Time” (GOAT), no losses is certainly a box to check. That easily puts the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle on the shortlist of greatest combat fighters of the 20th century, and perhaps even of all time. Considered among the most successful modern fighters, the F-15 Eagle has more than 100 victories to its credit with not a single loss in aerial combat. Development of the F-15 began in the late 1960s as part of the United States Air Force’s efforts to keep pace with the emergence of the MiG-23 and MiG-24 fighters and to replace the fleet of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, which had been in service since 1960. The program for the new fighter began in 1967, and after more than two years of intensive testing and evaluation, the Air Force awarded McDonnell Douglas the F-15 Advanced Tactical Fighter contract, after the aviation maker placed first amongst the three competitors in all phases of the competition, while also coming in with the lowest contract price.

Defeat Gripen and Rafales, France Tests Engine New Generation Fighter (NGF) Designed For 'Future Battle' Conceived as a collaborative idea to develop a next-generation fighter, France's Future Combat Air System (FCAS), has just received a major boost. Although it has been in the pipeline for a while, new impetus and the same commitment from all stakeholders have set it in motion. This new development could be a major breakthrough in the FCAS program.

US Army To Get Futuristic Combat Goggles That Can Go Beyond The Human Limits As combat becomes more technology-driven, with world powers now integrating state-of-the-art systems to their firefighting prowess, the US Army is all set to enter future battlefields with its all-new ‘combat goggles.’ Microsoft Corp’s high-tech combat goggles are being delivered to the US Army following promising field testing results. Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Douglas Bush has “cleared the Army to begin accepting” some of the 5,000 sets of goggles, spokesman Jamal Beck said in a statement. Due to concerns regarding the device’s performance, their delivery had been delayed for want of more rigorous testing. Based on the test results, the service “is adjusting its fielding plan to allow for time to correct deficiencies,” Beck said. Microsoft Corp has developed the goggles as part of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) designed to improve troop vision in warfare by expanding the field of view, enhancing depth perception, and getting beyond the limitations of human vision. IVAS has undergone operational testing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, by the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army, Army Technology reported last month. The test was part of the Army’s plan to equip infantry soldiers with mixed reality headsets. In March 2021, the Army made its initial purchase of 5,000 goggles at $373 million. However, the firm delayed the device’s distribution to continue strengthening the technical platform later last year, putting the first of a potential 121,000 orders on hold. According to Program Executive Office Soldier, the IVAS may soon incorporate high-resolution digital sensors and tools for continuous situational awareness. This will aid troops with better target acquisition, engagement, decision-making, and sensing. The US Congress will use the test report to determine whether to approve Army’s request for a $424.2 million program. Combat Goggles for US Troops The US Army has created IVAS goggles for close-combat personnel. The new goggles will improve the situational awareness of the infantry personnel, according to a press release earlier published by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS). The soldiers can check around corners, see in the dark, and display tactical data such as digital maps on the goggles’ lenses. The new goggles use feeds from Omni directional cameras placed outside the armored vehicles, which is at the heart of how the IVAS goggles operate as a whole, as previously observed by EurAsian Times. The US Army characterizes the technology as a Heads-Up Display (HUD) system (used by fighter jet pilots) to combine soldiers’ training, combat, and data gathering capabilities. Commonly referred to as a HUD, the heads-up display is any transparent display that presents data without requiring the pilots to look away from their usual viewpoints. The IVAS goggle will now directly project important data like films, maps, and night vision into the soldier’s field of view, much like the HUDs do. According to sources, the IVAS may connect to soldiers’ weapons via a thermal night vision scope fitted on a rifle. As a result, the soldiers can point their guns while hiding behind the cover or use the scope to scan the area for attackers without risking bodily harm from nearby enemies. According to Dr. Bruce Jette, a former Army acquisition executive who spoke to The National Interest, the technology can reportedly provide soldiers with a three-dimensional perspective they might not otherwise have. Jette added that IVAS uses the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) to link part of the neurological processes of human vision with software created to aid with depth perception, peripheral vision, and other subtleties related to human vision. With this kind of improvement, US Army personnel will be better able to map the positions of several targets simultaneously, obtain enemy force location data, and alert the shooter to important attack specifics like the range and location information of the enemy forces. Rapid targeting acquisitions, infrared and night vision capabilities, navigation headings, mapping, markers, data exchange, and other features are all planned for IVAS. The newly released Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular weighs the same as the current IVAS prototype, which weighs 2.5 pounds. Over the next ten years, the US Army anticipates spending about $21.9 billion on these glasses.

Russian fighters intercepted by Hungarian Gripen On Tuesday, the fighter aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces protecting the Baltic airspace were again alerted. This time the alert was again due to Russian aircraft. For four months from 1 August, the Hungarian Defence Forces, with almost 80 soldiers and four Gripen fighter jets, will be the lead nation – together with Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy, under NATO command – in air policing the Baltic countries. On 18 August, the Hungarian Gripen aircraft defending the Baltic airspace received their first live alert of the year.

Will Make Russia Sweat - Sweden’s JAS 39 Gripen Fighter Is Joining NATO Will Sweden’s JAS 39 Gripen fighter become a NATO mainstay after the Scandinavian country officially joins the alliance pending accession ratification by member nations? Russia is likely frustrated that even more Gripens (“Griffins”) will be part of the NATO mix sooner rather than later. The warplane is already in use by the Czech Republic and Hungary and other countries outside of NATO. Sweden has more than 90 Gripen C/D fourth-generation fighters in service. They are considered one of the jewels of the Swedish military. The Gripen is fast, maneuverable, and ready to take on Russian fighters if needed. Multi-role is Multi-Popular The acronym JAS denotes the diversity of missions that the Gripen can execute. This comprises air-to-air, air-to-surface, and reconnaissance roles. The airplane is made by SAAB Group (Swedish Aeroplane Company Limited). The Gripen entered service in 1997 and is noted for its canards and delta wings. It punches above its weight for a lighter jet at just under 15,000 pounds when empty and around 31,000 pounds maximum when taking off. Modern Cockpit that Pilots Love The cockpit is pilot-friendly with large visual displays and 3D screens. This includes a wide-area display and a heads-up display. SAAB says this situational awareness “includes mission routes, approaching threats and a lot more coming in from sensors, radars, and data feeds from other aircraft.”

X-61: The U.S. Military’s Plan For Drone Swarm Weapons? Meet the X-61: Throughout the Cold War, the United States military developed several so-called “X-planes,” which were technology demonstrators that tested the latest advancements in aviation. In the 21st century, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) often takes a lead on these programs, and one of the most promising current demonstrators is the X-61A Gremlins, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) being developed by the team at Dynetics Gremlins. It is a drone-like vehicle that can be integrated with the strike, reconnaissance, and cargo aircraft, as well as ground support systems operational with the US Armed Forces. It is intended to support intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), mobile target attack, suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), and close air support (CAS) missions. The program is aimed at developing low-cost swarming drones that can be outfitted with different payloads, launched by a mothership, recovered during flight, and then reused. Each Gremlin can incorporate several types of sensors up to 150 pounds and easily integrate technologies to address different types of stakeholders and missions. The X-61 platform is intended to demonstrate low-cost airframe design, launch and recovery methods, digital flight control, and navigation systems, as well as aircraft integration concepts. In-flight recovery is performed by a roll-on/roll-off system, which includes the physical structure, the docking structure, the towed, attitude-controlled “bullet” and the in-flight storage system, which is all installed inside the cargo bay of a C-130 transport aircraft. resource news : www.19fortyfive.com video by :https://www.darpa.mil/

Saab CEO Disappointed : Gripen Jets Succumbing To F 35 Stealth Fighters Due To Politics Johansson was speaking to reporters at Saab’s headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 26, during which he said that the signal-engine ‘Euro-canard’ has been struggling to meet the export expectations set out by his predecessors for the multirole fighter, noting that this was not a reflection on the quality of the aircraft but was instead because of political reasons. “It is extremely frustrating, to say the least, and I can say that it is not about the [Gripen] product that we have developed and manufactured. If it had been a completely level playing field in terms of not talking about security, politics, and other areas, then I think we would have been much better off [in terms of securing sales],” Johansson said. String Of Failures For Saab Johansson’s remarks came against the backdrop of repeated failure of its latest Gripen E/F range fighter jet in international sales campaigns against the American-made fifth-generation F-35 aircraft. The latest instance of Gripen’s failure was in July when the Czech Republic opted to buy 24 F-35 fighter jets, turning down the Gripen E offered by Sweden, even though the Czech military already operates 14 Gripen C/D jets acquired from Sweden on a lease that is due to end in 2027. Currently, the primary task for the Czech Gripen fleet is air defense but the Czech Republic’s growing insecurity, particularly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calls for a more capable fighter. Although Saab’s pitch was more cost-effective, Czech politicians and military leaders were already leaning towards the American stealth fighter jet. “Our decision to select this option is based on the analysis by the Czech Armed Forces, which clearly articulates that only the most advanced 5th-generation fighters will be able to meet mission requirements in future battlefields,” Jana Černochová, the Czech Defense Minister, said.

Swedish Gripen E fighter jet fires its first Meteor missile Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab announced last week that it recently conducted the first test firing with the advanced Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) on Gripen E with a successful end-to-end result on the target. The Meteor missile was launched from Gripen E at an altitude of approximately 16500 ft above the Vidsel test range in northern Sweden. “It feels very good that we have now completed the first test firing with Meteor from Gripen E. It is a very important milestone both for the program and for Saab. It shows that the weapon capability of Gripen is at the absolute forefront,” says Mikael Olsson, Head of Flight Test & Verification, Saab. Meteor from MBDA is an unmatched BVRAAM that can operate in in the most contested environments. It can successfully engage a wide variety of targets, from fighter aircraft to small unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles at unrivalled ranges. “This success is a great demonstration of the close partnership between MBDA and Saab, which after many years of active co-operation continues to go from strength to strength. This trial also excellently shows off our joint ability to rapidly integrate weapon capabilities onto the all new Gripen E,” says Jim Price, MBDA Vice President Europe. The focus of the flight test program for Gripen E is on continued development and testing of primarily the tactical systems and as well as integration of a variation of weapons, for example Meteor. The Meteor program is one of Europe’s most successful defense collaborations and has seen the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden join together to create this game-changing missile for air combat. Saab is a partner in the Meteor program in conjunction with prime contractor MBDA UK.

F-16XL: The Best F-16 Fighter That Never Was? Even though General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon took its first flight nearly 50 years ago, it remains in active duty with the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, and Air National Guard units. The F-16 has also been adopted by some 25 other nations and is still the world’s most numerous fixed-wing aircraft in military service today. The compact, multi-role fighter aircraft is highly maneuverable and has proven itself in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack. It continues to provide a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations. The F-16 is currently scheduled to remain in service until at least 2025.