Saab has flight-tested its own artificial intelligence agents aboard the Gripen E, with an agent autonomously controlling the fighter in beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-combat scenarios under real flight conditions. The Swedish company’s Advanced Programs unit developed the agents, training environments and supporting tools. Saab has not disclosed when or where the trials took place, how many flights were conducted or any performance results.
The work is part of Saab’s AI Fighter Pilot Academy, which develops and evaluates agents across simulated air-combat scenarios. Saab says the agents have accumulated millions of simulated flight hours, with their actions assessed against defined objectives. Sferical AI, a Swedish sovereign-AI initiative and Saab founding partner, provides computing capacity for the effort.
Gripen E’s software-defined architecture allows Saab to integrate and test new AI software on the fighter without a dedicated experimental aircraft. The company sees the agents supporting pilots or operating from uncrewed platforms alongside crewed aircraft. It plans to expand their capabilities and test them in a broader range of scenarios. The trials are separate from earlier Gripen E testing involving Helsing’s Centaur AI; Saab’s announcement provides no operational deployment timeline.