Saab floats Gripen production hub in Canada, if Ottawa were willing

SINGAPORE — Swedish aerospace manufacturer Saab has proposed that a hypothetical Gripen production line in Canada would be large enough to also serve export customers besides making planes for the Canadian Air Force.

The statement is the latest effort by Saab in sweetening the pot for Canada to give the Swedish company a slice of its fighter jet business.

“We need to ramp up our [fighter jet] production capabilities, to a level where it’s not only for Canada – we do see that [the potential line] will produce for export as well,” Mikael Franzén, chief marketing officer for the Gripen at Saab, told reporters at the Singapore Airshow here.

During a press briefing overviewing ongoing and future fighter programs, executives showed a map of current and possible Gripen E customers, which included Canada and Ukraine, among others.

Since last March, Ottawa has been undergoing a strategic review of its fighter capabilities and is exploring the potential of a mixed fleet that could combine F-35 and Gripen aircraft. The government announced in 2023 that it was spending $19 billion to acquire 88 jets from Lockheed Martin, but it has only committed to buying 16 for the time being.

In a recent interview with the aviation magazine Skies, Canadian Chief of Air and Space Force Development Maj. Gen. Jeff Smyth did not rule out that the final purchase might include a higher number to replace aging CF-18 Hornet fighters.

“Eighty-eight jets are not a lot for a country the size of Canada – if the government decides to buy more in the future, that would be welcome for us and our allies,” he told the publication.

Saab has been marketing the Gripen across the North American country for some time, calling it “The Made-in-Canada Fighter.”

Late last year, company officials claimed they could generate approximately 10,000 Canadian jobs if the country opted for the Swedish option, and pledged to build, maintain, and upgrade the aircraft with several Canadian industry partners.

Franzén told Defense News the plan entails that the first aircraft could be produced in Sweden to get started quicker, but that the rest would be made in Canada, “as the country has highly competent industries for software, hardware and airframe.”

He explained that the company is ramping up to achieve a production rate of 36 aircraft per year, but this estimate includes both existing and future lines.

“Many are speculating, will they replace the F-35 with the Gripen? I don’t think that is what they’re looking for. I think they’re looking for how their air force could be stronger in having a mixed fleet, and could it be that you have a certain number of F-35s and you add on Gripens on top of that,” Franzén said.

Company boss Micael Johansson has floated the possibility previously that, if established, a production facility could also support potential orders from Ukraine for over 100 Gripen.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

新加坡——瑞典航空航天制造商萨博公司提出，在加拿大建设一条假想的鹰狮战斗机生产线，其规模足以在为加拿大空军生产飞机的同时，也为出口客户提供服务。

这是萨博公司为争取加拿大分得其战斗机业务份额而做出的最新努力。

“我们需要提高我们的（战斗机）生产能力，使其不仅满足加拿大的需求——我们看到（潜在的生产线）也将用于出口，”萨博公司鹰狮战斗机首席营销官米凯尔·弗兰岑在新加坡航展上告诉记者。

在一次概述正在进行和未来战斗机项目的记者招待会上，高管们展示了一张“鹰狮”E战斗机当前和潜在客户的地图，其中包括加拿大和乌克兰等国。

自去年三月以来，渥太华一直在对其战斗机能力进行战略评估，并探索组建一支混合机队的潜力，该机队可能同时装备F-35和鹰狮战斗机。加拿大政府在2023年宣布将斥资190亿加元从洛克希德·马丁公司采购88架战机，但目前仅承诺购买16架。

在最近接受航空杂志《天空》采访时，加拿大空军和太空部队发展司令杰夫·史密斯少将并未排除最终采购数量可能增加，以取代老旧的 CF-18 大黄蜂战斗机的可能性。

“对于加拿大这样体量的国家来说，88架喷气式飞机并不算多——如果政府将来决定购买更多，这对我们和我们的盟友来说都是受欢迎的，”他告诉该刊物。

萨博公司已经在美国北美地区销售鹰狮战斗机一段时间了，称其为“加拿大制造的战斗机”。

去年年底，该公司官员声称，如果加拿大选择瑞典方案，他们可以创造大约 10,000 个加拿大就业岗位，并承诺与几家加拿大工业合作伙伴一起建造、维护和升级飞机。

弗兰岑告诉《防务新闻》，该计划意味着第一架飞机可以在瑞典生产，以便更快地启动，但其余的飞机将在加拿大生产，“因为该国在软件、硬件和机身方面拥有非常强大的产业”。

他解释说，公司正在加紧生产，目标是每年生产 36 架飞机，但这一估计包括现有生产线和未来生产线。

“很多人都在猜测，他们会不会用鹰狮战斗机取代F-35？我不认为这是他们的本意。我认为他们想的是，如何通过混合机队来增强空军实力，比如先拥有一定数量的F-35，然后再在此基础上增加鹰狮战斗机，”弗兰岑说道。

公司老板米凯尔·约翰逊此前曾提出，如果生产设施建成，还可以支持乌克兰可能订购的 100 多架鹰狮战斗机。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。