The Gripen Advantage in the Modern Battlespace
Having identified some of the challenges that modern battlespace will have, Jussi Halmetoja, Operations Adviser of Air Domain at Saab Aeronautics, and a former Gripen pilot, talks about how Gripen's capabilities will give it an edge in modern warfare.
Total system performance
“Here, we are looking at what Gripen can do in a collaborative operation which other aircraft cannot do,” Jussi Halmetoja says. Gripen features a net-centric system that allows the aircraft to seamlessly communicate with each other, multiplying the force and its air power.
Superior situational awareness
Gripen’s superior situational awareness mean the pilot has the ability to see the unseen, making "stealth" design irrelevant. "The operator flying a stealthy fighter will think he has stealth as an advantage, but he no longer has that advantage. Gripen, along with its sensors, will make his stealth design irrelevant, independently and collaboratively," Halmetoja says.
Advanced decision support
Gripen provides a vast decision support algorithm that reduces the pilot's workload significantly. With the data provided by the active and passive sensors, Gripen’s advanced decision support system helps the pilot to make sense of a highly congested modern battlespace.
"The pilot is always presented with the course of action that needs to be taken, allowing him to make the right decisions much faster," says Halmetoja.
Superior weapons engagement
“In Gripen, you can integrate a wide range of weapons that are not bound to any specific country,” Halmetoja says. Gripen also has a full dual-link meteor integration in the Swedish Air Force which has been operational for four years now. Meteor’s ramjet propulsion system has ever since revolutionised beyond visual range missiles and is considered the best of its kind within the longest endgame known today.