27 October 2017
Defence and security company Saab announces that the Gripen E smart
fighter flew supersonic for the first time. The aircraft broke the sound
barrier over the Baltic Sea on the 18th October.
The Gripen E smart fighter flew at speeds greater than the speed of
sound, at over Mach 1, as part of the ongoing flight trials programme. The
purpose was to collect data from the aircraft as it achieved and sustained
supersonic speed. The flight took place over the Baltic sea and the aircraft
sustained supersonic speed for a number of minutes, whilst carrying out
maneouvres, demonstrating the successful combination of the aicraft’s fighter
design and its powerful engine.
“As Gripen pilots we are used to extreme speed but to go through
the sound barrier for an aircraft’s first time is still a moment to enjoy. It
is important that the aircraft handles the transition smoothly through what we
call the transonic zone around the sound barrier and she certainly did, it was
very smooth,” said Marcus Wandt, Test Pilot, Saab.
Welcoming the news, Jonas Hjelm, Senior Vice President and head of
business area Aeronautics said, “Individual milestones such as this supersonic
flight demonstrate the thoroughness of our engineering approach and the validty
of the modelling. It is further evidence that the Gripen E flight test
programme is going extremely well, whilst the delivery schedule to our two customers
remains our key focus.”
This milestone has been preceeded by over 20 flying hours since the
first flight back on 15 June 2017.
Check out our interview with the test pilot Robin Nordlander on
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UXPgrFiSU0&feature=youtu.be
For further information, please contact:
Saab Press Centre,
+46 (0)734 180 018
presscentre@saabgroup.com
Saab Press Centre,
+46 (0)734 180 018
presscentre@saabgroup.com
Source: saabgroup.com
Saab Gripen E/F: Details
No comments:
Post a Comment