Saab sees further prospects for its Gripen combat aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a senior representative of the company at the Singapore Airshow last week.
Speaking on 21 February, Saab’s Chief Marketing Officer for Gripen Mikael Franzén told ADM that he sees both the Philippines and Thailand as prospective customers in the region in the near term. Further out, he said that India is another potential market for the Swedish fighter.
The Royal Thai Air Force already operates 11 Gripens (from 12 originally delivered) and therefore is seen as a repeat customer, whereas the Philippines is in the market for a modern fighter aircraft to supplement its existing KAI FA-50 fleet.
Thailand purchased 12 JAS-39C/D Gripens (in two batches of six aircraft) in 2008 and 2010 but one was subsequently lost in a crash. The survivors are based at Surat Thani near the border with Malaysia and, among other duties, they are tasked with providing Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) for Southern Thailand.
While the country has long been linked with a further tranche of aircraft no orders have eventuated to date. A pressing need to replace the RTAF’s wing of older F-16A/B Fighting Falcons has however seen renewed discussions with both Lockheed Martin and Saab.
ADM understands that senior representatives from both Thailand and the Philippines held discussions with Saab at Singapore 2024, including “flights” in the JAS-39E simulator on the Swedish manufacturer’s stand.
Shortly before the Singapore Airshow, the Philippines Department of National Defense released a statement detailing the progress of an Implementing Arrangement (IA) concerning the Procurement of Defence Materiel and Equipment (IA-PDME) meeting held on 17 January. This agreement, which includes the acquisition of a Multi-Role Fighter (MRF), was expected to be concluded and signed during the upcoming Philippines-Sweden Joint Committee meeting in Stockholm this month.
Despite this, Franzén emphasised that Manila’s MRF acquisition is still a competition, most likely between the F-16 and the Gripen once again.
“There is an MoU between the Philippines and Sweden on defence, and now they’re looking into an implementation agreement, which is something that is required to enable them (the Philippines) to continue. That is in discussion between the two countries right now and I expect it to be finalised not so far down the line,” Franzén said.
“It’s obviously a competition in both those countries (Thailand and the Philippines); of course, we think Gripen is the best product for them, given the size of the countries, the availability they need and the threat levels they have. So, we think we’re a strong contender in both of those countries.”
Franzén says he anticipates Thailand will select a winner this year, for contract finalisation in 2025.
“The Philippines is pretty much the same; they had an order process (previously), but then the new minister of defence did a re-evaluation of the threat level and now (they are) going from buying 12-14 aircraft, to around 30-40 aircraft,” he added.
Despite recently purchasing the Dassault Rafale from France and continuing with its indigenous HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program, Franzén said that Delhi’s Multi-Role Fighter (MRFA) requirement will provide future opportunities for Gripen.
“India is a very interesting market; they have a huge need (and) they have a lot of aircraft that are ageing,” he explained. “They have the Rafales and they have the Tejas (but) there’s still room for the MRFA procurement there and so we are active in India as well.”