Saab reveals industrial details of Gripen offer to Canada
CAE, IMP and Magellan Aerospace will be the Swedish airframer’s local partners for production, final assembly and sustainment of a proposed Gripen E/F fleet for Canada.
Swedish defence manufacturer Saab has revealed key details of its offer to supply Canada with Gripen E/F fighters.
Unveiling the proposal at the Canadian Aerospace Summit in Ottawa on 27 October, Saab says its framework will include the creation of a “comprehensive, in-country capability for the production, final assembly [and] support” of a new Canadian Gripen fleet, along with the “further development of airpower capabilities”.
The package would also include in-service support, training and long-term sustainment capabilities for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), which is seeking to replace its aged fleet of Boeing F/A-18A/B Hornets.
Saab is partnering with major Canadian aerospace firms, including CAE, IMP and Magellan Aerospace, on the offer to Ottawa.
“Canada’s fighter capability is a long-term national investment,” says Saab chief executive Micael Johansson. “We are prepared to establish a strong Canadian industrial ecosystem around Gripen that delivers operational effect, national sovereignty and lasting industrial and technological benefits.”
Ottawa has not yet committed to a Gripen acquisition, as the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney weighs whether to move forward with a full 88-aircraft buy of the Lockheed Martin F-35A or truncate that acquisition and pursue a second fighter type.
However, hints coming out of Ottawa suggest a decision may not be far off.
Ottawa has already committed funds for 16 F-35As which cannot be clawed back. The question facing Carney is whether to operate a mixed fleet of multiple fighter types or proceed with the full F-35 acquisition.
Local partners for a Canadian-made Gripen
Halifax-headquartered industrial conglomerate IMP will establish a new final assembly line for the Gripen in Canada on behalf of Saab if Ottawa opts to acquire the aircraft. IMP will also be responsible for electrical assembly production and in-service support for frontline Gripens with the RCAF.
IMP already has a substantial aerospace and defence business, including aerostructures fabrication and the design, manufacture, repair and overhaul of avionics, electronic systems, and wire harness assemblies.
Magellan Aerospace, based in the Greater Toronto Area, will provide local manufacturing of advanced aerostructures, composite structures and structural assemblies for the Gripen in Canada.
“Magellan Aerospace is well-positioned to bring decades of advanced aerospace manufacturing expertise to the Gripen programme, supporting the creation of high-tech jobs and sovereign defence capability right here in Canada,” says Haydn Martin, vice-president of business development for Magellan.
Canada’s Boeing F/A-18/CF-18 Hornets are in desperate need of replacement, but geopolitical tensions with the US have thrown a planned buy of Lockheed Martin F-35As into doubt. Source: Royal Canadian Air Force
Meanwhile, training specialist CAE has an existing memorandum of understanding with Saab to deliver advanced fighter pilot and technician training, mission systems engineering and support/sustainment capabilities in Canada if Ottawa moves forward with a Gripen buy.
“CAE has decades of experience contributing to the mission readiness of fighter pilots around the world,” says Pascal Grenier, president of CAE Defense & Security. “We have a longstanding commitment to the Royal Canadian Air Force and its training needs. Should the Government of Canada select the Gripen, CAE is prepared to work with Saab to support Canada’s future fighter force.”
Export potential
Saab has previously said that a Canadian Gripen production line would support not just orders from Ottawa but also export sales to other Saab customers globally.
The company’s Canadian partners are affirming their readiness to support such an arrangement.
“While that capability would be established to meet Canada’s requirements, its potential reaches well beyond Canada,” says David Gossen, president of IMP Aerospace & Defence. “We see a real opportunity for IMP to produce and support aircraft for Gripen customers internationally, positioning Canadian industry as an enduring part of the global Gripen programme.”
Awaiting orders
The Carney government has offered no clear timeline for when it will make a decision on the F-35/Gripen matter, although industry minister Melanie Joly hinted earlier this month that major action on significant defence procurement efforts could be only weeks away.
“Whether we will go ahead with the Gripen, the decision has not yet been taken,” she said on 14 October. “We’ll take decisions, and the decisions we’ll take, I think, within a couple weeks,” Joly later added.
Earlier this month, the RCAF took formal delivery of its first two F-35As (locally designated the CF-35), which will initially be used to train Canadian pilots at Luke AFB in the US.
Canada originally planned to acquire 88 F-35As, but political and trade tensions with Washington have pushed Ottawa to weigh curtailing the fleet at just 16 jets. Source: Royal Canadian Air Force
Sovereignty debate
The final say rests with Prime Minister Carney, who has made economic and security sovereignty a pillar of his premiership, particularly reducing Canadian reliance on the US. Saab is leaning into those concerns, highlighting the economic and industrial benefits of its Gripen offer.
“These partnerships are designed to strengthen Canada’s sovereign defence capability while contributing to the development of advanced aerospace and defence expertise across the country,” Saab says. “When activated, they will add significant new jobs and skills in areas such as high-technology manufacturing, advanced materials, and model-based systems engineering.”
Notably, the Swedish company says it will also provide Canada with a “self-reliant and sovereign capability to deploy, sustain and enhance” its Gripen fighters for decades to come.
Concerns about the US government’s ability to restrict access to critical sustainment and upgrade services from American companies working on the F-35 are regularly voiced by Canadian critics of the Lockheed stealth jet.
Around 30 Canadian firms are active suppliers to Lockheed’s global F-35 assembly operations, according to the RCAF.
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