First Brazil‑built Gripen E completes maiden flight at Embraer’s Gavião Peixoto plant

Embraer and Saab completed the first flight of the first Gripen E produced in Brazil at Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo, with a Saab test pilot verifying the aircraft’s main systems and flight characteristics.

The aircraft is the first of 15 Gripen Es to be built in Brazil and, after completing tests and the acceptance process, will be delivered to the Brazilian Air Force for operation from Base Aérea de Anápolis; the program plans a total of 36 aircraft (28 Gripen E and eight Gripen F), with 10 already delivered, and a preliminary agreement was signed in July for a possible additional 20 Gripen units in Brazil.