Polish modernisation AF tender

Gripen underlines operational capabilities in Poland

6 June 2001

Two single-seat SAAB-BAE SYSTEMS Gripen swing-role fighters are taking part in a dispersed operations defense exercise with the Polish Air Force, near Szcecin in Poland. Operating alongside Polish MiG-29, MiG-21, Su-22 and Iskra aircraft, the Swedish Air Force Gripen fighters will demonstrate their ability to operate from forward operating bases and road strips, an important element of Polish national defense requirements.

The demonstration id part of the ongoing drive by SAAB-BAE SYSTEMS to sell the fourth generation aircraft to Poland, which the SAAB-BAE SYSTEMS team says is the only one capable of operating effectively from both main operating bases and dispersed sites, including unprepared road strips.

"Gripen is ideally suited for out-of-area operations in support of NATO or other multi-national forces," states Simon Carr, sales and marketing director, SAAB-BAE SYSTEMS Gripen. "The high availability, reliability and low support requirements allows a Gripen force to generate more sorties than any other aircraft in its class.

The Gripen team says that the aircraft has a minimal requirement for ground support infrastructure and equipment at both a main operating base and deployed operations site and that the fighter's need for less spares, repair and maintenance, leads to more time in the air.

Typically, each Gripen can be turned around, mission to mission, by a team of just five personnel in less than 10 minutes, whether at the main operating base or on dispersed deployment. Even when carrying a heavy load of fuel and weapons, it requires less than 500 meters of narrow roadway for take-off or landing.

SAAB-BAE SYSTEMS Gripen is currently preparing its response to the first part of the Polish government's RFP for the modernisation of its air force to meet national, NATO and European defense needs. Gripen for Poland will be fully NATO compatible and interoperable. It will support all NATO priorities for the standardisation of doctrines and procedures, including NATO standard datalink communications and an air-to-air refueling system.

Swedish Air Force variants of Gripen, although currently different to those marketed internationally, have successfully demonstrated their ability to operate with NATO forces and other Partnership for Peace nations during exercises, including Baltic Link 200, last year.


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Gripen provides double boost for Polish aerospace industry

22 February 2002

Gripen International, jointly owned by SAAB and BAE Systems, has strengthened its partnership with the Polish aerospace and defence industry by signing two new industrial co- operation agreements linked to the supply of the Anglo-Swedish Gripen fighter to meet the future national and NATO defence needs of Poland.

Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Gripen partner Saab AB and PZL Swidnik, Saab personnel have confirmed that capabilities at Swidnik will suit the development of advanced new carbon-fibre (CFC) manufacturing techniques. This enables the Polish aerospace company to be considered as a supplier of complex CFC parts for Gripen, including nose and main landing gear doors.

"The manufacture of CFC doors for Gripen will require significant technology transfer to Poland. These parts have complex, double curved surfaces which require advanced manufacturing techniques unlike anything that is currently manufactured in-country," said Simon Carr, sales and marketing director Gripen International.

A separate Memorandum of Understanding relates to WZL-2 in Bydgoszcz. Under the agreement, the Bydgoszcz facility will be the major candidate to provide maintenance facilities and logistics support for the Polish Air Force Gripen fighters, including the manufacture of spares and the conversion of existing ground support systems to minimise the cost of introducing Gripen into Polish Air Force service. It will provide workers in Bydgoszcz with involvement in the integration of weapons specifically required by the Polish Air Force and the manufacture of components and sub-assemblies for export to Sweden and other countries.

"The industrial partnership agreements with PZL Swidnik and WZL-2 Bydgoszcz underline the broad and powerful direct offset programme available in support of Gripen," concluded Carr. "We have already established industrial activities in Poland which amount to around $US 60 million and are totally committed to providing local companies with a long-term benefit from the Polish fighter procurement program, if Gripen is selected."


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