The Swedish company Saab has announced that India will receive the first fourth-generation Gripen multirole fighter within 36 months. It concerns the creation of production facilities in the country. This is reported by Bulgarian Military.
Military experts noted that this initiative is aimed at creating a reliable ecosystem for the production and maintenance of the Gripen, which greatly contributes to India's defense independence.
According to Bulgarian Military, Saab has pledged to transfer 100% of the technology, which will allow Indian companies to acquire critical skills in the design, development and production of modern fighters.
In addition, Saab plans to manufacture 96 of the 114 aircraft in India, as well as train Indian engineers and pilots in Sweden. Later, a network of training aviation centers will appear in India.
Cooperation with the Swedish manufacturer means a departure from cooperation with Russia for India. Prior to this, Bulgarian Military reported that the Indian Air Force would replace the Russian R-73 air-to-air missile for the Su-30MKI with the British ASRAAM.
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