Saab has made further progress on its co-development and production deal with Brazil for the Gripen NG fighter. The Swedish company announced last week the signing of a contract worth some $245 million for weapon acquisition. As with its latest comment on the main Gripen production contract with Brazil, Saab noted that implementation of the contract “is subject to fulfillment of certain conditions…including export-control authorizations.” However, Saab said that it expects all conditions to be fulfilled during this year's second half.

Saab officials will not discuss the particulars of the weapons loading for the aircraft, but would say only that there is a “package” that comes with the Gripen NG for Brazil. However, at the recent Latin American Aerospace and Defence (LAAD) show, some of the suppliers for the Brazilian Gripen program did discuss their plans for the aircraft’s weapons. They and other sources close to the program say there will be a mix of Brazilian, Israeli and South African weaponry, and that there may be competition between suppliers to supply some of them.

Mectron, a division of Brazilian company Odebrecht Defence, is developing the A-Darter infrared-guided air-to-air missile (AAM) in conjunction with South Africa's Denel. “Brazil and South Africa signed an agreement just before the LAAD show to industrialize the production of the missile in both countries,” said a senior executive from Mectron. “The two countries will produce the same missile—not different Brazilian and South African versions.” However, there are some sources within Mectron who state, “We are going to work very hard to get our own [infrared-guided] missile, the MAA-1B, integrated on the Gripen. It is a very capable design and much cheaper than the other options available.”

Questions also remain as to which active radar-homing missile will be employed on Brazil’s Gripens. Rafael has proposed an advanced version of its Derby AAM, called i-Derby that the company claims is a next-step in this class of missile design. It uses a seeker that can be upgraded by software updates instead of new hardware elements. The other option is the Marlin program from Denel. This missile is still in development but borrows from other Denel designs for its configuration. Denel representatives claim that the South African government are talking with Brazilian officials about a joint effort on this program that would mirror what is being done with the A-Darter.

Another missile that will be part of the Gripen weapons load is the Mectron MAR-1 air-to-surface anti-radiation missile. The original announcement of this program had lead some observers to speculate that it had been designed solely for the Pakistan Air Force, but Mectron executives told AIN, “The MAR-1 has always been intended for the use of the Brazilian Air Force and was designed to meet our armed forces’ requirements first of all above any other customers'.” Another air-surface weapon likely to be added is the Rafael Spice 250 EO/GPS precision-guided munition. 

Brazil is planning eventually to buy more than 100 Gripens, which makes the addition of new weapons more cost-effective. Further, Saab claims that the cost of integrating such weapons is lower on the Gripen than on rival combat aircraft.