Back in June, Saab’s next-gen Gripen E fighter embarked on its maiden flight. Since then, the aircraft has clocked in more than 20 flying hours. Now, the aircraft has gone supersonic, traveling faster than the speed of sound for the very first time.
Over the Baltic Sea on October 18, the Gripen E flew at speeds over Mach 1. The aircraft was able to sustain this speed for a couple of minutes while carrying out various maneuvers. During the few minute time span, data was collected as part of its ongoing flight trials program.
Built to navigate the modern aerial battlefield, the Gripen E features the latest technology needed for information, movement, and weaponry. Its Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar simultaneously and independently tracks different targets. The Gripen E is a Network Centric smart fighter, meaning it can securely communicate two ways with all ally units. Plus, the system employs a highly advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) system.
“As Gripen pilots we are used to extreme speed but to go through the sound barrier for an aircraft’s first time is still a moment to enjoy. It is important that the aircraft handles the transition smoothly through what we call the transonic zone around the sound barrier and she certainly did, it was very smooth,” says Saab Test Pilot Marcus Wandt.
The Gripen E has an overall length of 15.2 meters (49.9 feet), width of 8.6 meters (28.2 feet), maximum takeoff weight of 16,500 kg (36,376.3 pounds), and maximum thrust of 98 kN. To check out more stats, you can view the Gripen E fact sheet here.
“Individual milestones such as this supersonic flight demonstrate the thoroughness of our engineering approach and the validity of the modelling. It is further evidence that the Gripen E flight test program is going extremely well, whilst the delivery schedule to our two customers remains our key focus,” says Jonas Hjelm, senior vice president and head of business area Aeronautics.
Watch Test Pilot Robin Nordlander’s interview about the achievement in the video below.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense