Brazilian pilot flies Gripen
On 20 August 2020, almost a year after the maiden flight of the first Força Aerea Brasileira (FAB, Brazilian Air Force) F-39E Gripen, a Brazilian pilot flew for the first time from Saab's Linköping airfield.
Major Cristiano de Oliveira Peres, a test pilot with the FAB, flew the F-39 Gripen E, serial number 4100 (c/n 39-6001), over the Baltic Sea for approximately 50 minutes. The FAB test pilot had been in Linköping since January and, in the time running up to his first flight, had undergone a series of training sessions qualifing him to fly the Gripen. Among those sessions were the study of the technical documentation of the F-39 Gripen and many hours of training in simulators.
Joint Swedish-Brazilian Gripen activities started in 2014 with the signing of the contract for the development and production of 36 Gripen E/F aircraft for the FAB. This includes embedded systems for the Gripen, support and equipment. The FAB Gripen is developed and produced with the participation of Brazilian technicians and engineers.
