Sweden is expanding work on a future fighter system with a new SEK 2.9 billion (US$310 million) contract awarded to Saab, continuing a series of studies intended to support decisions on the country's air combat capabilities beyond 2040.
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) placed the latest order for work between 2026 and 2028, with options covering 2029 and 2030. The program will now include flying and ground-based demonstrators, advanced studies and development of concepts involving both manned and unmanned aircraft.
No decision has been made on what will eventually succeed the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Instead, the work is intended to develop technologies, retain national engineering capabilities and reduce technical risks before Sweden chooses how to structure its future combat aviation system.
According to Saab, the new phase will cover systems integration, autonomy, signature reduction, propulsion, digital development and future production technologies. The company describes the work as providing Sweden with "freedom of action for future choices."
Studies move toward demonstrators
The latest contract builds on work commissioned by FMV in 2024 and 2025. Sweden has progressively moved the program from conceptual studies toward the development and testing of technologies that could eventually form part of a future combat aircraft system.
In 2025, FMV awarded Saab a SEK 2.6 billion (US$271 million) contract covering continued conceptual work and technology demonstrators. The new order increases the scope of the effort and explicitly includes both flying and ground-based demonstrators.
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Sweden has not committed to developing an entirely national next-generation fighter, nor has it selected an international program to replace the Gripen. The studies are instead examining different combinations of manned and unmanned systems while maintaining domestic expertise needed to evaluate those alternatives.
Saab has decades of experience developing combat aircraft in Sweden, from the Saab 29 Tunnan to the current Gripen family. The latest Gripen E entered operational service with the Swedish Air Force in 2025 and is expected to remain in use for decades, leaving Sweden time to evaluate what should follow it.
Post-2040 options remain open
The future fighter studies are aimed at capabilities required beyond 2040, when air combat is expected to rely increasingly on cooperation between crewed aircraft, autonomous systems, distributed sensors and networked weapons rather than on a fighter operating as an isolated platform.
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Saab has already explored unmanned concepts as part of this work, but the company and FMV have emphasized that demonstrators are intended to investigate technologies rather than define the configuration of a future production aircraft.
Sweden could ultimately pursue a domestic solution, cooperate with other countries or combine foreign and nationally developed systems. For now, the additional investment allows Saab and FMV to explore those alternatives without committing the country to a specific aircraft or international program.
