Saab keen on IAF fighter contract

Swedish defence firm Saab will actively participate in the Air Force contract for 110 fighters, most of which will be manufactured in India. A security agreement to be signed between the two sides this week is expected to facilitate the advanced fighter’s transfer of technology to India.

Swedish ambassador to India Klas Molin said the Request for Information (RFI) put out by the Defence Ministry opens “door to manufacturers globally on fighter plans, and Saab has a long standing presence and is competing in a number of civilian and defence areas, and they are also in port security, monitoring, transportation etc. They are also interested in cooperating on developing and manufacturing its Gripen-E next generation fighter aircraft which is single engines.”

Security agreement

India and Sweden are expected to sign a security agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Stockholm this week, further facilitating transfer of technology for the Gripen-E fighter manufacturing in India.

Saab already has a joint venture with the Adani group in India.

‘More clarity now’

“The RFI has opened the door to different kinds of aircraft, which was an issue under discussion and Saab is very happy that this has been clarified, since there was delay in moving on exactly what the government wanted. So they know what to expect now, there is more clarity. And they will be responding to the RFI,” Mr. Molin said.

He said if the government follows the strategic partnership model, where a private Indian firm would be the manufacturing agency in India, “it will take some time to shape out and see who the competitors will be, but Saab is definitely interested in continuing in the process.”

“Given past experience, and the time these processes take we were happy to hear the Prime Minister say at the DefExpo that India doesn’t want to take as long as it has in the past to fulfil its needs for hardware,” he said.