The Minister for Civil Defence, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, is in Brazil to inaugurate Saab's new production line of Gripen E, which Defence Sector News reported on this morning. According to a recently released press statement from Saab, its CEO Micael Johansson and Brazil's President Lula da Silva also participated.

The production line is located at Embraer's facility in the city of Gavião Peixoto, where the Gripen Design and Development Network (GDDN) and Gripen Flight Test Center (GFTC) are also situated. This production line is part of the technology transfer project initiated when Brazil purchased the fighter aircraft from Saab. According to Saab's press release, Embraer's technicians have received both theoretical and practical training at Saab's facility in Linköping.

– The start of the production line for Gripen is a milestone in our commitment to transfer technology and knowledge to the Brazilian industry. Here we will produce 15 of the 36 aircraft intended for the Brazilian Air Force. The goal is also to produce any future Gripen orders from Brazil and other countries here. We want Brazil to become an export hub to Latin America and potentially other regions, says Micael Johansson, CEO and President of Saab.

– Today we are not only celebrating the inauguration of the production line for Gripen but also the success of the collaboration between Saab and Embraer. It grows stronger every day with the common goal of serving our customer, the Brazilian Air Force. Embraer has played an important role in the Gripen programme from the start, including participating in the development of the Brazilian version of the two-seater aircraft. As a natural development of the collaboration, we hope that together we can soon expand our operations to new markets, says Bosco da Costa Junior, CEO and President of Embraer Defense & Security.

On 5 May, FAB announced that two additional aircraft had been delivered from Sweden by sea. According to the port company Portonave, the aircraft in question arrived from Norrköping with the Dutch ship MV Mitiq.

In addition to the inauguration, Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin will also meet with Vice President and Minister for Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade Geraldo Alckmin; Defence Minister José Múcio; and the Minister for Integration and Regional Development Waldez Góes.

One of the ministers Bohlin is set to meet is Defence Minister Múcio, who recently expressed a positive stance on purchasing more Gripen aircraft than the 36 ordered in 2014. This statement was made at the defence exhibition LAAD 2023 in Rio de Janeiro. At the same exhibition, Saab and Embraer signed a memorandum of understanding, which Defence Sector News previously reported on. According to the memorandum, Saab will assist Embraer in marketing its tactical transport aircraft KC-390 to Sweden, and Embraer will, in turn, support Saab in exploring new opportunities to sell more Gripen to Brazil and other countries in Latin America.

In an interview with the news agency Reuters, Saab's CEO Micael Johansson stated that the company hopes Colombia will soon resume its procurement of fighter aircraft and that the country will then choose Saab as a partner. Another country he mentions in the interview as interesting in the long term is Peru. While Bohlin is now in Brazil, the Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari is currently in Colombia according to Sweden's embassy's Twitter.