Saab has flown the Gripen F for the first time, sending the two-seat fighter aloft from its airfield in Linköping, Sweden, with company test pilot Jakob Högberg and Brazilian Air Force test pilot Lieutenant Colonel Aviator Abdon de Rezende Vasconcelos on board. The aircraft departed at 09:40 local time and remained airborne for 40 minutes, with the sortie used to verify core systems and initial flight performance as the Gripen F test campaign moved into the air.
The Gripen F is the twin-seat version of the Gripen E and is tied to the wider development path for the programme, including future export and training use. Saab plans to expand the flight envelope gradually in later testing, extending checks across speed, altitude, load factor and angle of attack as the aircraft progresses beyond its maiden flight. The move shifts the programme from ground preparations into airborne development and opens the next phase of system and performance evaluation.