Since a description of the OODA-loop was introduced in the 1970s, it has been widely known that responding, perceiving, deciding, and taking actions, faster and in a more effective way than your enemy, has been, and remains, the most valuable military potential. This has been our drive as engineers of Saab, to design effective, affordable solutions and products that help our users outsmart and outmaneuver their opponents and, in this way, protect people and society. From being a result of a war effort back in 1937, Saab has been on this journey ever since, with many loggerheads in aviation development along this journey.
This has most recently been shown in how we integrated our newest fighter, Gripen E. In a “traditional” area of aeronautical engineering, vehicle systems, and mechanical design, Gripen E represents a pioneering use of model-based engineering (MBE) techniques, enabling all disciplines to share a common understanding of design as it stands in a common digital twin. This digital twin also stretches into manufacturing, where traditional 2D paper drawings are now being replaced with 3D electronic drawings that describe every part and every manufacturing step, enabling more complex designs. Being able to use model-based engineering enabled early simulation and analysis of cross-functional systems, enabling a better design from day one.
Meanwhile, Gripen E also introduced a world’s first in its avionics suite, with flight-safety critical and mission-critical software being assuredly separated, along with an avionics platform that is independent of computer hardware. This ensures that it does not fall into the rut of extremely long and costly updates, as other planes are faced with every time there are software or computer hardware updates. This has enabled it to boldly proclaim that it lives up to “Code in The Morning, Fly in The Afternoon.” This also allowed it to become the world’s first-in-production fighter jet that has an AI agent on board, running in standard avionics computers, proving that “Agility, Speed, and ultimately Combat Lethality are no longer a function of your size, Power, or Weight, but rather how quickly you can adapt, and upgrade your Airplane.”
