Saab is being strengthened – because it’s not American

Saab appears to have taken a step closer to selling Gripen to Peru. If the deal goes through, it is an important step for the Swedish aerospace and defense industry. But it also shows how protracted and politically driven large defense deals are.

Saab has been trying to sell the Gripen fighter jet to more countries for a long time. And the need for new business is great.

Because after Sweden and Brazil decided to buy the new Gripen E/F just over ten years ago, Saab has not received any more orders for the plane. On the contrary, country after country has instead bought planes from one of Saab’s competitors, usually in the form of American F-35s.