History

The Gripen is a multirole fighter aircraft, intended as a lightweight and agile aerial platform with advanced, highly adaptable avionics. It has canard control surfaces that contribute a positive lift force at all speeds, while the generous lift from the delta wing compensates for the rear stabilizer producing negative lift at high speeds, increasing induced drag.

Being intentionally unstable and employing digital flyby-wire flight controls to maintain stability removes many flight restrictions, improves maneuverability, and reduces drag. The Gripen also has good short takeoff performance, being able to maintain a high sink rate and strengthened to withstand the stresses of short landings. A pair of air brakes are located on the sides of the rear fuselage; the canards also angle downward to act as air brakes and decrease landing distance. It is capable of flying at a 70–80 degrees angle of attack.

To enable the Gripen to have a long service life, roughly 50 years, Saab designed it to have low maintenance requirements. Major systems such as the RM12 engine and PS-05/A radar is
modular to reduce operating cost and increase reliability. The Gripen was designed to be flexible, so that newly developed sensors, computers, and armaments could be integrated as technology advances. The aircraft was estimated to be roughly 67 percent sourced from Swedish or European suppliers and 33 percent from the US. One key aspect of the Gripen programmed that Saab have been keen to emphasize has been technology-transfer agreements and industrial partnerships with export customers.

The Gripen is typically customized to customer requirements, enabling the routine inclusion of local suppliers in the manufacturing and support processes. Operators also have access to the Gripen's source code and technical documentation, allowing for upgrades and new equipment to be independently integrated.

Avionics and sensors

The total integration of the avionics makes the Gripen a "programmable" aircraft, allowing software updates to be introduced over time to increase performance and allow for additional
operational roles and equipment. The Ada programming language was adopted for the Gripen, and is used for the primary flight controls on the final prototypes from 1996 onwards and all subsequent production aircraft. The Gripen's software is continuously being improved to add new capabilities, as compared to the preceding Viggen, which was updated only in an 18-month schedule. Much of the data generated from the onboard sensors and by cockpit activity is digitally recorded throughout the length of an entire mission. This information can be replayed in the cockpit or easily extracted for detailed postmission analysis using a data transfer unit that can also be used to insert mission data to the aircraft.

The Gripen, like the Viggen, was designed to operate as one component of a networked national defense system, which allows for automatic exchange of information in real-time between Gripen aircraft and ground facilities. According to Saab, the Gripen features "the world's most highly developed data link".

The Gripen's Ternav tactical navigation system combines information from multiple onboard systems such as the air data computer, radar altimeter, and GPS to continuously calculate the
Gripen's location. The Gripen entered service using the PS-05/A pulseDoppler X band multi-mode radar, developed by Ericsson and GEC-Marconi, which is based on the latter's advanced Blue Vixen radar for the Sea Harrier that also served as the basis for the Eurofighter's CAPTOR radar.

The all-weather radar is capable of locating and identifying targets 120 kilometers (74 miles) away, and automatically tracking multiple targets in the upper and lower spheres, on the
ground and sea or in the air. It can guide several beyond visual range air-to-air missiles to multiple targets simultaneously. Saab stated the PS-05/A is able to handle all types of air defense, airto-surface, and reconnaissance missions, and is developing a Mark 4 upgrade to it. The Mark 4 version has a 150 percent increase in high-altitude air-to-air detection ranges, detection and tracking of smaller targets at current ranges, 140 percent improvement in air-to-air mode at low altitude, and full integration of modern weapons such as the AIM120C-7 AMRAAM, AIM-9X Sidewinder, and MBDA Meteor missiles.

The future Gripen E/F will use a new AESA radar, Raven ES-05, based on the Vixen AESA radar family from Selex ES. Among other improvements, the new radar is to be capable of scanning over a greatly increased field of view and improved range.
In addition, the new Gripen integrates the Skyward-G Infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor, which is capable of passively detecting thermal emissions from air and ground targets in the aircraft's vicinity. The sensors of the Gripen E are claimed to be able to detect low radar cross-section (RCS) targets at beyond visual range. Targets are tracked by a "best sensor ominates" system, either by onboard sensors or through the Transmitter Auxiliary Unit (TAU) data link function of the radar.

Cockpit

The primary flight controls are compatible with the Hands On Throttle-And-Stick (HOTAS) control principle – the centrally mounted stick, in addition to flying the aircraft, also controls the cockpit displays and weapon systems. A triplex, digital fly-by-wire system is employed on the Gripen's flight controls, with a mechanical backup for the throttle. Additional functions, such as communications, navigational and decision support data, can be accessed via the Up Front Control Panel, directly above the central cockpit display. The Gripen includes the EP-17 cockpit display system, developed by Saab to provide pilots with a high level of situational awareness and reduces pilot workload through intelligent information management.

The Gripen features a sensor fusion capability, information from onboard sensors and databases is combined, automatically analyzed, and useful data is presented to the pilot via a
wide field-of-view Head-Up Display, three large multifunction color displays, and optionally a Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS). Of the three multi-function displays (MFD), the central display is for navigational and mission data, the display to the left of the center shows aircraft status and electronic warfare information, and the display to the right of the center has sensory and fire control information. In two-seat variants, the rear seat's displays can be operated independently of the pilot's own display arrangement in the forward seat. Saab has promoted this capability as being useful during electronic warfare and reconnaissance missions, and while carrying out command and control activities.

In May 2010, Sweden began equipping their Gripens with additional onboard computer systems and new displays. The MFDs are interchangeable and designed for redundancy in the event of failure, flight information can be presented on any of the displays. Saab and BAE developed the Cobra HMDS for use in the Gripen, based on the Striker HMDS used on the Eurofighter. By 2008, the Cobra HMDS was fully integrated on operational aircraft, and is available as an option for export customers; it has been retrofitted into older Swedish and South African Gripens. The HMDS provides control and information on target cueing, sensor data, and flight parameters, and is optionally equipped for nighttime operations and with chemical/biological filtration. All connections between the HMDS and the cockpit were designed for rapid detachment, for safe use of the ejection system.