The Flygsystem 2020 ("Flight System 2020", abbreviated FS 2020) is an ongoing project by the Swedish Air Force to develop a fifth-generation low-observable fighter jet by 2035.[1][2] Little public information exists about the project; there are no official statements about the current stage of development, although a video claims to show a miniature prototype test.[3] In 2012, Lieutenant Colonel Lars Helmrich of the Swedish Air Force asked members of the Riksdag to consider the development of a new jet fighter or to upgrade all present JAS 39 multirole fighters to the NG model, claiming the early versions of the aircraft will be obsolete by 2020.[4]

The Saab/Linköping University Generic Future Fighter project[5][6][7] is a testbed for its technologies.

Partnership

During a state visit of the President of Turkey to Sweden on 13 March 2013, Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayii AŞ (Turkish Aerospace Industries, TAI) signed an agreement with Sweden's Saab to provide design support services to Turkey for the TAI TFX program.[8][9][10][11]

However, the collaboration with Turkey was under pressure due to Turkey being removed from the Joint Strike Fighter program. To tackle this, in July 2019 the Swedish government signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Kingdom to jointly develop technologies for the British BAE Systems Tempest sixth-generation stealth fighter program; these technologies may be integrated to Sweden's own Flygsystem 2020 project.[12] This was extended to include Italy in December 2020.[13]

On 9 December 2022, the UK, Japan and Italy merged their sixth-generation fighter jet projects, creating the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). Japan and Sweden signed an agreement on possible future cooperation in the GCAP program in late December.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Le programme Tempête prend une dimension européenne" [The Tempest program takes on a European Dimension]. Méta défense (in French). 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  2. ^ Limén, Helene (2007), Rapport från Riksdagen [Report from the Parliament] (in Swedish), Försvarsutskottets ansvarsområde, p. 31, 08:RFR8.
  3. ^ wellerocks (2010), "Swedish Stealth Fighter Jet", Youtube, Google.[dead link]
  4. ^ "Gripen has to be modernized to meet air battles", Ny Teknik, SE.
  5. ^ Erripis, Ioannis K (Apr 15, 2013), "Saab's new stealth fighter program", Aerospace, Robot pig, Saab is investigating the design of the next generation fighter that will someday eventually replace the Gripen. […] a small research program that Saab is conduction with the University of Linköping. […] It looks similar to the Gripen and the main difference is the V-tail.
  6. ^ Glowacki, Bartosz (Jul 13, 2010), "Saab plots bright future for Gripen programme", Flight global, Farnborough, UK: Reed, Sweden to advance Generic future fighter concept, Sweden's decades-long history of innovation in the aerospace sector is also evidenced by its Generic Future Fighter (GFF) concept. Developed by the Fluid and Mechatronic Systems division at Linköping University's department of Management and Engineering, the design has a Gripen-like fuselage with canards and canted tails.
  7. ^ Nordin, Peter; Jouannet, Christopher; Krus, Petter (Aug 30, 2011), Flumes Flies a Demonstrator of a Generic Future Fighter Aircraft, SE: LIU, archived from the original on April 4, 2015, retrieved February 25, 2014.
  8. ^ "Ekonomi" [Economy], Hurriyet (in Turkish), TR.
  9. ^ "Bets open on Turkey´s first fighter aircraft", Hurriyet daily news, TR.
  10. ^ "Turkiye Saab ile masaya oturdu" [Saab was on the table with Turkey], Dunya (in Turkish), TR, archived from the original on 2013-04-15.
  11. ^ "Turkey to replace F-16s with local jets", Hürriyet daily news, TR.
  12. ^ "La Suède serait sur le point d'annoncer sa participation au programme Tempest britannique" [Sweden would be just about to announce its participation in the British Tempest program], Meta defense (in French), 2019-07-06
  13. ^ "Italy, UK and Sweden sign MoU on development of Tempest". Janes.com. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  14. ^ "Japan, Sweden sign deal for possible GCAP co-operation". Janes.com. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
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