The Gripen, made by Sweden’s Saab AB, would be the country’s first line of domestic defence should hostilities break out with an antagonistic Russia, about 40 minutes away at cruising speeds. But as essential as it is to Sweden, the fighter has struggled to gain sales from other countries: Saab hasn’t won a major export order since Brazil signed up for a batch of 36 jets in 2014, while rivals have locked in scores of sales.
A Gripen D fighter jet pierces through the clouds above southern Sweden and is soon cruising at nearly the speed of sound. The test pilot begins putting the warplane through its paces.
With a flick of the wrist, the former air force major tips the jet into a descending, sideways turn revealling Gotland, the strategic Swedish island that has periodically drawn Russian encroachment. The vertical climb that follows pins a Bloomberg reporter onboard to his seatback, and the plane levels off. Then the afterburner kicks in, and an automated voice announces: “Transonic.” The Gripen hits Mach 1 at 768 miles per hour, just half its top speed.
