Saab chief test pilot Jakob Högberg took the first Gripen E built in Brazil into the air at 10:21 local time on Oct. 6, 2026, from Embraer’s Gavião Peixoto aerodrome in São Paulo State. The fighter is the first of 15 Gripen E aircraft to be produced in Brazil under the current program. It is also, in Saab’s words, “the first Gripen fighter built outside Sweden.”
The flight was not a demonstration. Saab describes it as the aircraft’s first production acceptance test, the step that opens the final phase of manufacturing at Embraer before the jet goes to the Brazilian Air Force.
Saab announced the flight in a press release dated Oct. 7, 2026. The sortie, the company said, aimed to verify the aircraft’s basic system functions and assess its initial performance. The release states the aircraft “is the first of 15 to be produced in Brazil under the current programme,” and notes that “Embraer is home to South America’s only supersonic fighter production line.” Embraer flight engineers handled the planning and execution of the flight, with support from Saab, per the release.
From rollout in March to first flight in October
This aircraft has been public for months. Saab’s release says it was “officially presented on 25 March 2026 by Embraer.” Its first flight came a little over six months later.
Marcus Wandt, head of Saab’s Aeronautics business area, put the milestone in production terms. “This maiden flight shows that Gripen production in Brazil has reached a new level of maturity,” he said in the release, adding: “I am proud of our close cooperation with Embraer in the Gripen programme.” He said that cooperation establishes a foundation for the aircraft’s future development in Brazil. Bosco da Costa Junior, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, called the flight “a historic milestone for the country’s aerospace and defense industry,” according to the same release. Both are company statements about the companies’ own program.
Brazil’s Gripen order
The Brazil-built jets are part of a larger buy. Brazil’s 2014 contract covers the development and production of 36 fighters, 28 single-seat Gripen E and eight two-seat Gripen F, according to an Oct. 7, 2026 report by Defence Industry Europe. The same report says deliveries began in 2020, with 10 aircraft handed to the Brazilian Air Force to date, and describes Gavião Peixoto as the only Gripen production line outside Sweden.
Brazil’s Gripen unit is the First Air Defence Group, known as 1st GDA, at Anápolis Air Force Base in Goiás State. Saab’s release says the group currently operates 10 Gripen fighters and that the newly flown aircraft “will be transferred to Anápolis Air Force Base in Goiás State” once it is delivered.
There is a possible extension beyond the current 15. Defence Industry Europe’s Oct. 7 report says Embraer and Saab have announced a Heads of Agreement that covers the potential assembly of 20 more Gripens at Gavião Peixoto, with those aircraft still subject to negotiations for new contracts. The report does not describe a signed contract for them.
What the jet has to clear next
One flight does not make a delivered fighter. Saab’s release says the aircraft now continues through its production acceptance flight campaign, after which it will be certified and made ready for delivery to the Brazilian Air Force. It will then move to Anápolis to join the First Air Defence Group. Neither Saab’s release nor the trade report gives a delivery date for this aircraft, and Saab’s release lists none for the 14 Brazil-built jets that follow it.
Top image: A Brazilian Air Force F-39E Gripen in flight during Aviator’s Day events in 2020. Image Credit: Isac Nóbrega / PR — CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Combat Rated editors prior to publication.