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| SAAB's Gripen Fighter Successfully Demonstrates Mobile Short-Range Air Defense System (MSHORAD) |
International Military - SAAB's Gripen fighter jet recently demonstrated the Mobile Short-Range Air Defense (MSHORAD) system. This he did in his first live shooting in Karlskoga, Sweden, on August 30, 2022.
Where the shooting was carried out in the presence of 15 national delegates, the company said in a press release on September 5, 2022. The Swedish company said the system was able to identify, track and shoot multiple targets during the fire.
Quoted from the Eurasian Times, a total of five firings were carried out with the company's RBS 70 NG missiles. Two of these are fired from the Mobile Firing Unit (MFU), mounted on the MARS-S330 mobility vehicle, and the remaining three in the man-portable air defense system. (MANPADS).
On the other hand, the entire MSHORAD system consists of Mobile Radar Units (MRUs). It is also based on the Giraffe 1X radar, Mobile Firing Unit (MFU), based on the RBS 70 NG missile, and all linked to GBAD SAAB's Command And Control (C2).
“This successful firing proves that we have a fully interoperable mobile air defense solution. This shooting highlights the value of a single supplier capable of delivering everything from radar to firing units, including the GBAD C2 solution,” said Stefan berg, Head of SAAB's Missile Systems business unit, in a press release.
Quoted from Military Watch Magazine, the Swedish Gripen was not successfully sold for the last eight years. This came to light when President and CEO of Swedish aerospace and defense company SAAB AB Michael Johansson told reporters of his "extreme frustration".
The plane he said had not met export expectations for years. Johansson blamed political factors and stressed that the aircraft's performance attributes were not to blame.
To note, the Gripen represents a very light fighter in the class below light standards such as the American F-16 or French Rafale. The aircraft is comparable to the Indian Tejas and the Sino-Pakistani F-16.