Saab pitches Canada-based Gripen factory with eye on global exports

Swedish aerospace firm Saab says a potential Gripen fighter jet production line in Canada would be designed not only to supply the Royal Canadian Air Force but also to serve international export customers, as the company steps up its campaign to secure a role in Canada’s future fighter fleet.

Saab executives made the case at the Singapore Airshow, presenting Canada as a possible manufacturing hub for the Gripen E at a time when Ottawa is reassessing its long-term combat aircraft needs and weighing the benefits of a mixed fleet, according to Defense News.

“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 briefing on current and future fighter programmes, Saab displayed a map of existing and prospective Gripen E customers that included Canada and Ukraine among other countries.

Canada has been conducting a strategic review of its fighter capabilities since March last year and is exploring whether a mixed fleet could combine Lockheed Martin’s F-35 with Saab’s Gripen. Although the Canadian government announced in 2023 a plan to spend US$19 billion to acquire 88 F-35s, it has so far committed to purchasing only 16 aircraft.

In an interview with aviation magazine Skies, Canadian Chief of Air and Space Force Development Maj. Gen. Jeff Smyth suggested the final number of fighters could still grow as the country looks to replace its aging CF-18 Hornets.

“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 long marketed the Gripen in Canada as “The Made-in-Canada Fighter,” arguing that local production and sustainment would strengthen domestic industry. Company officials said late last year that choosing the Gripen could generate around 10,000 Canadian jobs, with aircraft built, maintained, and upgraded in partnership with Canadian firms.

Franzén told Defense News that Saab’s plan would see the first Gripen aircraft produced in Sweden to accelerate deliveries, with the bulk of production shifting to Canada thereafter.

“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 said.

Saab is scaling up its global manufacturing capacity toward a rate of 36 aircraft per year, a figure that would be shared across existing and potential production 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.

Saab chief executive Micael Johansson has previously suggested that a Canadian production facility could also support potential future orders from Ukraine, possibly exceeding 100 Gripen fighters, further reinforcing Canada’s role as a manufacturing and export hub if the project moves ahead.

By Sabina Mammadli