One of the most modern and probably least known new combat aircraft is Saab's Gripen. As is the norm with Sweden, self reliance means developing all their own equipment for their armed forces, even if it means a greater expenditure in order to do so.

The SAAB company has been building aircraft for the Swedish air forces for decades, reaching back to before WWII. These aircraft have achieves some modest success in the export market with the J.29 and J.35 being sold to Austria, and the J.35 being used by the Danes.

This latest release by Aerofax covers the complete development of the Gripen, a development that was somewhat protracted by cost overruns and the usual problems that one runs into with new aircraft. That is followed by squadron operation and the development of the twin seat version. The final section is on attempts to sell the Gripen to foreign buyers, a process that generally resulted in either no aircraft being picked or a competitor's being chosen. However, not all is so dark as it appears that the South African Air Force has picked the Gripen as a replacement for their Mirage V-based Cheetahs. In addition, Hungary has chosen to lease 14 aircraft.

Unlike most of the Aerofax publications, this one has a greater number of high quality color photographs, probably because the newness of the subject means that there is less to 'talk' about than in other volumes. In fact, it would be safe to say that this edition is all color, a real plus to those of us who are used to just a small color section in the back of previous Aerofax books.

Overall, it was a very interesting and enjoyable read. Learning about the development and deployment of a new aircraft type always makes for fascinating reading, and the inclusion of the trials and tribulations of selling modern military equipment overseas just adds to that.

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