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This is good news for SA - http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?o ... Itemid=107

That is for sure, thanks for posting.

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About time! We've got the toys, now teach us to play with it.

Not that any of the current Grippen Pilots do not know already, though.

How many Grippen Pilots are currently trained in SA? I read somewhere that we have a total of 24 Grippen aircraft (D and C Types). Is this figure accurate?

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@Iamsam - It looks like you're missing the point that Gripen pilots from Sweden, Hungary, Czech Republic and Thailand (and wherever Gripens might still be sold in future) will be coming here for the training. SA's own pilots are just one of the clients.

The last four SAAF Grippen Cs out of a total of 26 will be delivered in September.

Do you think Sweden will bring of their own Gripens to TFDC?

Very interesting news, I agree that it's good for the SAAF. I'm looking forward to hearing more details on this, especially with regards to aircraft use. Bringing Gripens to SA will be expensive, so I see two possible options:

1) Saab purchases a number of (presumably ex-SwAF) Gripens and ships them down to TFDC to being the Fighter Weapons School fleet, or

2) Saab loans under-utilised aircraft from 2 Squadron as needed.

Roger, no I didn't miss the point. I am also very chuffed that they chose SA for training. And I am pleased that our pilots will bee exposed to this technology and experience. My question is do we have 26 trained Gripen pilots?

If we do have 26 or more I am very pleased indeed, if not this seems like a good opportunity to get prospective pilots primed and trained.

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I would hope by now we'd have more than 26 pilots in the system - though how many are already qualified on Gripen is anyone's guess - the very stingy operational budget (except for the VIP planes) doesn't help.

I would think, with each Grippen operator having their aircraft set up to their standard, they would want to train with their own aircraft?
Will have to wait and see who will come. It may be expensive to bring aircraft to SA, these airforce are not cash starved like the SAAF. Just think of who has brought aircraft to SA just for an air show, or training. The Luftwaffe have had their Tornado's in SA and Canada a few times for training. Belgium with their F-16 duelling with Cheetah C.

You can't underestimate what a massive logistical exercise bringing fighter aircraft to South Africa is. That Belgian deployment, while valuable for the Belgian Air Force, was a logistical nightmare and cost them a lot of money.

There is little doubt that there are plans to deploy Gripens from other countries to SA at some point, likely for Lion Effort 2018 which South Africa plans to host. I just think that the costs make it unlikely to be a frequent occurrence.

Read more details here http://i.imgur.com/JyrAG.jpg

Congratulations

Awesome knightone, thanks for that. So the aircraft will be SAAF assets loaned to the School.

But what will SAAB use for the 'enemy' aircraft to practise dogfighting against?

The head of SAAB SA said they'll introduce "aggressor" aircraft "in a few years".

Yes, the air-to-air training side will not be established at first, instead the first courses will focus on elements like low-level reconnaissance, gunnery and long-range strikes.

This is actually better for the SAAF at first, I'd say, as 2 Squadron's pilots are very good in the WVR air-to-air role but owing to funding issues may not be as adept as they could be in areas like reconnaissance and long-range strikes.