Saab Aeronautica Montagens, Saab's first aerostructures plant outside of Sweden for the new Gripen E/F fighter, has reached an important milestone with the start of production. The site builds sections of Gripen, which will then be delivered to the final assembly facilities at the Embraer plant in Gaviao Peixoto, Sao Paulo, Brazil and to Linkoping, Sweden.

In 2014, Saab signed a contract with Brazilian government for the development and production of 36 Gripen E/F aircraft. In September last year, the first Brazilian Gripen E aircraft was delivered to start the flight test programme. Now, another milestone is reached, as Gripen production starts at the SAM plant, which is located in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a city in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

The tail cone and front fuselage of the single-seat version of the Gripen fighter are the first aerostructures to enter into production at SAM. Subsequently, the aerodynamic brakes, rear fuselage, wing box and front fuselage for the two-seater version will also be manufactured at SAM.

"This is another outcome of the Transfer of Technology (ToT) of the Gripen programme. Based on theoretical and practical on-the-job training of Brazilian engineers and assemblers at Saab in Linkoping, we were able to establish a highly qualified production line at SAM, following the same standards that we have in our factory in Sweden," says Jonas Hjelm, head of Saab's business area Aeronautics.

Currently, SAM has more than 70 highly qualified employees, half of whom are participating or have already participated in the ToT Programme in Sweden. Part of these employees have already completed the training and returned to initiate the production in Brazil.