The Saab JAS 39 Gripen: Where it’s actually built
The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is marketed as a Swedish fighter jet, but it is a true multinational effort. The aircraft is led and controlled by Sweden’s Saab, but it falls short of being a sovereign aircraft free of export restrictions.
Why its difficult to attribute workload
Until the first Embraer-assembled Gripen was unveiled in 2026, all Gripens had been assembled at the Saab AB aeronautics facility in Linköping, Sweden.
In today’s modern interconnected world, “Made in Country X” labels can be highly misleading. An aircraft may be assembled in one country from flat-packed components imported from another.
It is also extremely difficult to estimate how much of an aircraft can be attributed to certain countries. For example, the Gripen’s Raven ES-05 AESA radar is built in the United Kingdom (Scotland), but the UK, in turn, imports important AESA components from the United States.
Software is a critical part of modern fighter jets, but it is not a physical part of the jet. No fighter jet is complete without a weapons loadout, simulators, and maintenance equipment. Should they be included?
There is no universally agreed-upon method to estimate how much of a jet is produced in a particular location. Governments and company marketing teams will often cherry-pick the method (value-added analysis, labour-hours, procurement spending) that is the most favourable to whatever narrative they are trying to sell.
Cherry-picking counting methods doesn’t make the number wrong, but it does come with qualifications. It also explains why adding up each country’s claimed share of the jet may be much more than 100%.
Why the Gripen is an Anglo-American Swedish fighter
The Saab Gripen is marketed as a Swedish fighter jet designed and built in Sweden. However, it sits somewhere between the French Rafale and multinational Eurofighter.
Like the Eurofighter, from a supply-chain perspective, the Gripen incorporates major contributions from several countries. Unlike the Eurofighter, it remains a nationally owned Swedish program.
Justin Bronk at a Parliament Committee hearing expressed it this way: “Sweden has close to a sovereign capability, but about 30% of the Gripen is UK IP, and there is still US ITAR technology on the Gripen.”
The UK and US have an effective export veto over the jet, unlike the French Rafale (which still has a British ejection seat). The UK effectively vetoed exports to Argentina, while the US was asked to block exports to Colombia by a leading opposition Colombian presidential candidate.
This is a new chapter for Ukraine's air defences and as Russian aggression grows, we stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and our NATO allies like Sweden.
— Luke Pollard MP (@LukePollard) May 28, 2026
With over 30% of each Gripen built in Britain, this deal supports thousands of good British jobs here at home 🇬🇧🇸🇪🇺🇦 https://t.co/R3OxujoBOS
Speaking in May, the British MP Luke Pollard posted, “With over 30% of each Gripen built in Britain, this deal supports thousands of good British jobs here at home.”
Claimed Gripen workshare by country (using different methodologies):
- Sweden: 30%+
- United Kingdom: 26-40%
- United States: 30-35%
- Brazil: Up to 10-15% for export models (claimed 40% “national content” by end deliveries)
In 2012, the British Parliament Defence Committee “Written evidence from Saab,” stated, “Up to 36% of the Gripen aircraft is manufactured here in the UK, where major systems such as the latest generation electronically scanned radar, and the landing gear, are made.”
The UK supplies the landing gear, Martin Baker ejection seats, Raven ES-05 AESA radar (Leonardo UK), and many other subsystems. It should be noted that the engine is excluded from the main UK percentage. The UK typically emphasises its intellectual property share of the Gripen.
The United States contributes around 33% to the Gripen, with the single most notable item being the GE F414 engine, as well as other electronics and materials.
Estimates for US content in the Gripen can approach 40% in older estimates when missiles and other systems are added.
Other countries also contribute to the Gripen, although much less than the “big three.” It is also worth noting that one of the major UK contractors is the Italian-rooted Leonardo UK.
Gripen C/D vs E/F
There is also a noticeable difference in the production origin of the legacy C/D and the new E/F. The share of non-Swedish components appears to have grown with the more complicated Gripen E/F.
In 2025, writing about the announcement of the sale of Gripen Es to Thailand, the BBC reported, “About 40% of the [Gripen E/F] parts are being made in the UK.”
The Gripen upgrade also impacts the engine. The legacy C/D’s RM12 engine is based on the United States GE F404 and is closer to a Swedish-developed derivative of the GE F404.
It was built under license by Sweden’s Volvo Aero (now part of GKN Aerospace), with around 60% of the components being supplied by GE.
Sweden retains industrial participation in the F414 program through GKN Aerospace Sweden, but its role is substantially smaller than the level of engineering ownership and modification authority that existed with the RM12 program
Depends on whose fighter jets
There is also significant variation depending on whose fighter jets are being discussed. Brazil’s fighter jets will have a share of Brazilian components. Even here, it depends on the specific aircraft, with initial deliveries having fewer Brazilians parts compared with later deliveries.
Saab has contracted for Brazil’s Embraer to assemble a total of 15 Gripen Es in Brazil. All two-seater Gripen Fs are assembled in Sweden.
While these are mostly assembled with Swedish-supplied components, Embraer also produces some components. Reports suggest the plan is for the share of “national content” to grow to 40% by final deliveries. It is unclear how that percentage is calculated, and it should not be directly compared with the US and UK workshare.
Even South Africa’s Denel Aviation contributed to manufacturing centre fuselage parts and other components for Gripens supplied to South Africa.
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Why the Saab Gripen has seen an increase in interest
The Saab Gripen JAS 39 fighter jet has been extensively in the news thanks to significantly expanded interest in the jet since 2022. This is driven by a decline in global security and a need for air forces to replace their aging fighter jets.
The Gripen is marketed as a Swedish fighter jet, and it primarily competes with the light/medium-weight F-16 Block 70. That said, it can compete with the higher-end Rafale and Typhoon.
The Gripen occupies a very different market segment from the F-35, although the two aircraft have occasionally competed in the same procurement programs.
Interest in the Saab Gripen is driven by a range of factors. For Brazil, the deciding factor was likely the promise of technology sharing and co-assembly/production.
For Canada, the interest is largely driven by geopolitics. Saab argued that the Gripen could satisfy Canada’s NORAD and interoperability requirements while offering substantial industrial participation. Dassault and the Eurofighter Consortium saw this as infeasible and withdrew.
For countries like Colombia and Peru, the choice is primarily the Gripen or F-16, with geopolitics and foreign policy of the governing party being important.
Ukraine wants the jet as it was built for the type of requirements Ukraine has. Importantly for Ukraine, the jet is European and therefore easier to maintain logistically, and it can be financed with European loans.
Featured Image: Embraer
