Who makes the Gripen fighter jet?

Short answer

The Gripen fighter jet is built by Saab, the Swedish defense group, at its plant in Linköping. Brazil also assembles part of its Gripen E fleet at Embraer's factory in Gavião Peixoto (São Paulo). The engine comes from General Electric (F404 on the C/D, F414 on the E/F), and it is flown by Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa, Thailand, and Brazil (as of September 2026).

Published: September 21, 2026 · Updated: September 21, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Saab JAS-39 Gripen, Czech Air Force — archive image, 2014Milan Nykodym (CC BY SA), vía commons

Saab, a manufacturer with a tradition of homegrown fighters

Saab has been building combat aircraft for Sweden since the 1940s: the Tunnan, the Draken, and the Viggen preceded the JAS 39 Gripen, which first flew in 1988 and entered service in 1996. The acronym JAS sums up its multirole character: Jakt (fighter), Attack (attack), and Spaning (reconnaissance). Design, development, and final assembly are concentrated in Linköping, in southern Sweden, next to the runway from which every new Gripen takes off. Other group plants in Arboga, Järfälla, and Gothenburg supply electronics, radar, and electronic-warfare systems.

Engines and foreign partners

The Gripen is not an entirely Swedish aircraft. The C and D versions use the RM12 engine, a General Electric F404 built under license by Volvo Aero, now GKN Aerospace Sweden. The Gripen E and the two-seat F are fitted with the more powerful General Electric F414G, and the Raven ES-05 active electronically scanned array radar developed by Leonardo together with Saab. Dependence on US-made components forces Sweden to obtain export licenses from Washington for every sale.

Brazil, which selected the Gripen E in 2014, is the only country with its own production line: Embraer assembles part of the Brazilian Air Force fleet, where the aircraft is designated F-39, in Gavião Peixoto, and takes part in developing the two-seat F.

Who flies it and who has ordered it

Gripen C/D aircraft are in service in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa, and Thailand, and the Gripen E in Sweden and Brazil. Colombia and Peru announced the purchase of the Gripen E/F in 2025, Thailand ordered its first E/F aircraft, and Ukraine signed a letter of intent to acquire between 100 and 150 aircraft. Sweden, for its part, has approved expanding its own E fleet and is developing the next generation of combat aircraft together with Saab.