This Monday, March 2, the Swedish industrialist Saab officially confirmed his candidacy for the Canadian invitation to tender aiming at the replacement of 88 F / A-18 Hornet combat aircraft (designated CF-188 locally). For this, Saab offers its Gripen E / F, a modernized version of the Gripen C / D also proposed in Finland for the replacement, here too, of F / A-18 Hornet. In itself, the announcement is not surprising, Saab never concealed his intention to apply for Canada. In the end, the Swede will be the only European candidate in this competition, where he will face the F / A-18E / F Super Hornet from Boeing and the F-35 from Lockheed Martin.
Indeed, Dassault Aviation announced its withdrawal from the competition at the end of 2018, arguing an unfair context for this competition. Many observers, previously disappointed by the absence of a proposal from Dassault Aviation in Belgium, then regretted the decision of the French industrialist, whose Rafale nevertheless presented serious arguments in Canada. Until the European consortium Eurofighter in turn decides to withdraw its offer based around Typhoon, Airbus declaring in turn in September 2019 that a European aircraft would have no chance in Canada in the face of American candidates.
The proposal from the “Gripen Canada” team
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