Stefan Degraef and Edwin Borremans visit the Swedish vAir Force’s Gripen Operational Test and Evaluation Unit, where a small but important community is responsible for trials of all Gripen-related hardware and software destined for the front line.
Linköping-Malmen air base on September 14 last. A single JAS 39C Gripen, callsign ‘Hammer 01’, blasts off from runway 19 before heading west…
The pilot, an experienced 37-year-old Flygvapnet (Swedish Air Force) captain, belongs to the Malmen-based Taktisk Utprovningsenhet JAS (TU JAS, Gripen Operational Test and Evaluation [OT&E] unit).
He quickly contacts a two-ship JAS 39C formation from 72. stridsflygdivision (72 ‘Ghost’ Squadron), part of F 7 Skaraborgs flygflottilj (F 7 Skaraborg Wing), orbiting close to the vast Lake Vänern, in F 7’s unrestricted aerial ‘playground’.
Led by a young pilot, the three-ship formation will try to ‘bounce’ and destroy a four-ship Gripen offensive counter-air (OCA) strike force, also from 72. stridsflygdivision and comprising a mix of young pilots and qualified weapons instructors.
Once within the envelope for a beyondvisual- range (BVR) missile shot, and using the pre-briefed tactics and procedures, all opponents perform a…
