On October 14, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) announced that it has signed an agreement with Saab to extend the existing contract for the development of the next-generation fighter aircraft intended to replace the Swedish Air Force’s Gripen. This extension will allow continued work under the conceptual program Framtida Stridsflygsystem (literally translated as “Future Combat Air System”). According to official reports, the goal of the Swedish government and its industrial partners is to have a technology demonstrator ready to fly by 2027, with conceptual designs expected to be finalized by next year.
Reviewing the details of the agreement, Stockholm has reportedly invested approximately 2.676 billion Swedish kronor (around 282 million U.S. dollars) in this new extension, covering conceptual studies, technological development, and the construction of the demonstrator itself, which will be used to validate the projected characteristics of the future aircraft. In the words of Carl-Fredrik Edström, Head of the Aerospace Systems Division at FMV: “This extension ensures continuity in development work and is an important part of developing and verifying technologies that may form the basis for future decisions regarding Sweden’s combat aviation capabilities.”
It is worth recalling that FMV and Saab had signed the initial agreement to begin preparatory studies for the program back in 2022, with the main goal of advancing a conceptual and exploratory design that would enable the Swedish Armed Forces to plan for the eventual retirement of their current Gripen E/F fighters in the medium term. At that time, the Swedish government allocated 25 million U.S. dollars to launch the project, which aims to provide an alternative to Europe’s ongoing GCAP and FCAS fighter programs, currently led by the continent’s major aerospace companies.
By 2024, progress on the program continued through the signing of another agreement to extend the work throughout that year and into the current one, taking advantage of Saab’s parallel development of technologies for the Gripen model that could be applied to or enhance the new design. Furthermore, it was mentioned that one of the key requirements for the new platform would be the ability to operate alongside unmanned aerial systems, following a trend shared by other sixth-generation fighter developments.
Finally, it is important to note that all these advances fall under the framework of the Swedish government’s Combat Aviation Pathway program, whose main goal is to identify solutions that will provide Sweden with future air combat systems beyond 2040. The initiative involves FMV, Saab, the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), and GKN Aerospace. As Edström highlighted: “Given the long development cycles in combat aviation, it is crucial that we start building knowledge, testing technologies, and preparing future pathways now.”
Images used for illustrative purposes.
