Report Thailand Chooses Swedish Gripen Jets Over US F-16s

[SpaceKadet]

10 hours ago, CanadaSam said:

I would like somebody, anybody, to do a very simple calculation.

 

The amount agreed upon to buy one gripen, converted to usd.

 

Then, the sale price of the same aircraft, as listed openly on the net by all other countries that purchased them.

Don't understand your post. Gripen is a modern aircraft and not available on the second hand market. Countries that buy Gripen don't do it to sell it again. They will stay in their air forces for 20 years, maybe longer. We are not talking car deals here. There is also a lease option.

 

How much would Thailand sell their F-16 for? The only thing that old F-16's are good for is as a gift to Ukraine.

 

But, since you obviously have done the calculation, please do enlighten us.

[SpaceKadet]

22 hours ago, PopGun said:

The 'Gripen' uses an American made Engine.

The maintenance of the engines will require spare parts from America.

 

Just saying 🤷‍♂️

 

Correction. JAS-39 is using GE designed F414G engine, manufactured under license and modified by Volvo FM (FlygMotor) in Sweden. It would require spare  parts from Sweden.

However, as I mentioned in a post above, theoretically US could block the export of the engine, but as they offer F-16 with GE F110 engine, that would certainly  be regarded as unfair business practices.

 

[billd766]

22 hours ago, Negita43 said:

??????

But that is for 4 aircraft and not 1. Look at the current price of 4 x F16, then add in the hourly flying cost, and in to the price the daily maintenance costs, the ability of the Gripen to use main roads and the F16 is 3 or 4 times as expensive to buy and run. In addition, the current clown in the White House may or may not not permit Thailand to buy them anyway.

 

Currently the USA is an unreliable partner to do business with.

[billd766]

20 hours ago, Fortean1 said:

The lack of a comprehensive maintenance plan by the Royal Thai Air Force precluded selling F-35s.  There are probably around 12 countries globally that qualify in that regard.  Besides Thailand is too close, literally and figuratively to 'Big Brother' China.

I am so glad that the USA will not sell the F35 to Thailand.

 

It is too expensive to buy in the first place, plus the hourly flying cost is very high, as is the daily maintenance costs and will require too much manpower. It will be restricted to large airbases and cannot operate from main highways as the Gripen can.

 

It still has many problems that need to be solved and it will bind Thailand to the USA, which currently, is an unreliable partner.

[billd766]

On 6/6/2025 at 6:19 PM, NoDisplayName said:

Thailand Chooses Swedish Gripen Jets Over US F-16s

 

Uh-oh!

 

Sanctions and tariffs incoming..............

But not from Sweden.

[black tabby12345]

May be a smart choice.

I recently heard of the Kill Switch secretly placed in US High Tech Weapons(exported).

Said to be able to void the Installed software  by remote control.

[DezLez]

41 minutes ago, black tabby12345 said:

May be a smart choice.

I recently heard of the Kill Switch secretly placed in US High Tech Weapons(exported).

Said to be able to void the Installed software  by remote control.

And I have heard that the moon is made of cheese!

PS; If the Yanks have a "kill switch" why can't the Swedes have one?

[stevenl]

17 minutes ago, DezLez said:

And I have heard that the moon is made of cheese!

PS; If the Yanks have a "kill switch" why can't the Swedes have one?

I don't believe there's a kill switch, but do believe bully politics could be an issue, especially with maintenance.

[DrPhibes]

On 6/5/2025 at 9:22 AM, JoePai said:

Sensible choice for once 

It is neither US nor Chinese.  Keeping this out of their balance between the two 😉

[SpaceKadet]

To all those proponents of American F-16, and how JAS-39 has not proved itself in real combat.

https://www.globaldefensecorp.com/2021/01/07/gripen/

 

Let's face it people, JAS-39 is the most advanced Gen4 fighter out there, and perfect for the countries that need an air force for the defensive purpose, and do not require an offensive fighter like F-35 or F-22, which are pure offensive weapons requiring a huge infrastructure to be effective.

 

Even F-15, F-16 or F-18 do not pass the bill, due to to their huge infrastructure requirements.

 

A JAS-39 can be refueled and rearmed and back in action in 20 minutes landing and taking off on a normal road, compared to F-16 requiring 2-3 hours and large airfield infrastructure, including a huge cadre of highly trained technicians.  

 

The only reason that JAS-39 has not sold more is purely political, and it's good to see that Thailand, for once, is acting sensibly.

[CanadaSam]

6 hours ago, SpaceKadet said:

Don't understand your post.

 

Not a wonder you didn't understand it, because I assume you didn't bother to google the cost of these aircraft, new, from Sweden, is $85 million.

 

And if you had done the simple calculation of what this gov't is going to pay, it is closer to double the price all other countries pay.

 

Did you get my point now, SpaceKadet?

[SpaceKadet]

Obviously, you have not done your research. We don't know how much the Thai government will pay for the JAS, and again, there are no second hand fighters on the market, which you were referring to.

 

And just to piss on your dinner further, JAS-39 has the lowest operating cost of all fighters out there, plus other benefits. Spread that over the estimated lifespan of 20 or so years and come back to me. Follow the link to the Alaska Red flag article I posted earlier, where JAS-39 just ghosted all F-16 and the mention to Loyal Arrow exercise in Sweden where it ghosted 2 F-15's while the thirds one just cowardly run away.... We're talking real muscle here, boy.....

 

Not to even mention the well knows fact that an older Swedish fighter (J-37) is the only one ever to get a weapons lock on an SR-71. Again, real war tech, not Lego crap from America.

https://stratpost.com/gripen-operational-cost-lowest-of-all-western-fighters-janes/

[Schoggibueb]

On 6/6/2025 at 9:12 AM, PopGun said:

The 'Gripen' uses an American made Engine.

The maintenance of the engines will require spare parts from America.

 

Just saying 🤷‍♂️

The Gripen has a Volvo RM12-Turbofan, prduced in Sweden...

 

Reaktionsmotor 12 (RM12) is a low-bypass afterburning turbofan jet engine developed for the Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter. A version of the General Electric F404, the RM12 was produced by Volvo Aero (now GKN Aerospace Engine Systems). The last of the 254 engines was produced on 24 May 2011, at which time it had reached 160,000 flight hours without any serious incidents.

 

Just saying 🤷‍♂️

[Patong2021]

The  SAAB CEO did admit in 2022 that the  aircraft was not as good as the  F-16 or Rafaele. The Gripen represents a very light fighter in a class below standard lightweights such as the American F-16 or French Rafale, and comparable to the Indian Tejas and Sino-Pakistani F-16. The aircraft uses the same American F404 engine as the Tejas, a powerplant originally designed for the U.S. Navy's F-18 Hornet fighter, while the JF-17 uses a derivative of the RD-33 engine built for the Hornet’s Soviet rival the MiG-29.   https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/ceo-of-sweden-s-saab-admits-extreme-frustration-as-clients-don-t-want-gripen-fighters-no-sales-for-over-eight-years

 

The Gripen's advantage is that Thailand has past experience with the aircraft, and it is more cost effective than the  US products.

An added benefit is that it is unlikely that any bribes are paid. The transaction will be subject to Sweden's anti bribery laws.

 

[SpaceKadet]

13 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

The aircraft uses the same American F404 engine as the Tejas, a powerplant originally designed for the U.S. Navy's F-18 Hornet fighter

The JAS-39E is using GE F414 engine. Much more powerful.

[billd766]

4 hours ago, DezLez said:

And I have heard that the moon is made of cheese!

PS; If the Yanks have a "kill switch" why can't the Swedes have one?

Why would they need one?

[JoePai]

On 6/6/2025 at 4:44 PM, impulse said:

Does Sweden have a FCPA?

 

It does have snow in the winter    🤣

[SpaceKadet]

Interesting sideline from the Operation Spider Web, the recent Ukrainian attack on the very remote Russian air bases, some of them thousands of kilometers away. It allegedly crippled up to 30% of Russian long distance strike capability, nuclear and conventional.

 

This would never happen with the deployment of JAS-39, as the Gripen doesn’t need an extended and vulnerable air base and can operate from a straight normal road of less than 1000 meters, and can be battle ready again in just 20 minutes, requiring the staff of only 6 conscripts. To replace the largest component, the engine, takes less than one hour.

 

The software is very advanced and modularized. It can be upgraded in less than one hour, without affecting any other software components. So to add a new weapon capability, would only upgrade the weapon part, without affecting any other critical component, like aircraft handling, navigation or targeting… Bloody brilliant.

 

Also, the Gripen does not need to rely on AWACS support, as the other modern fighters do. They share their radar data in a mesh network between all members in the squadron.

 

Additionally, all JAS-39E record and store the RCS signatures of all adversaries and share it with the rest of the pack. There goes the perceived stealth of F-35……

 

Is there really anything negative to say about the JAS-39? (Well, apart from the use of the American GE414 engine!)

[lordgrinz]

On 6/7/2025 at 6:53 PM, CanadaSam said:

 

Not a wonder you didn't understand it, because I assume you didn't bother to google the cost of these aircraft, new, from Sweden, is $85 million.

 

And if you had done the simple calculation of what this gov't is going to pay, it is closer to double the price all other countries pay.

 

Did you get my point now, SpaceKadet?

 

I think you are confusing price per plane vs full package deal. There is also support, training, and offsets involved in the final cost.

[Hummin]

1 minute ago, lordgrinz said:

 

I think you are confusing price per plane vs full package deal. There is also support, training, and offsets involved in the final cost.

So many factors coming in to play, also which weapon systems they are getting. 

 

Us turned them down on F35, but offered them most likely an upgraded F-16, still there is limitations 

 

They already have both F-16 and Jas Gripen 39

 

Complete list here

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_of_the_Royal_Thai_Air_Force

[lordgrinz]

On 6/7/2025 at 2:11 AM, CanadaSam said:

I would like somebody, anybody, to do a very simple calculation.

 

The amount agreed upon to buy one gripen, converted to usd.

 

Then, the sale price of the same aircraft, as listed openly on the net by all other countries that purchased them.

 

This should help you understand the pricing of full package deals.

 

https://en.defence-ua.com/weapon_and_tech/saab_eyes_breakthrough_year_for_gripen_sales_targets_thailand_after_colombia_deal-14337.html