The Gripens main advantage is that it’s basically impossible to ground them by blowing up some airbases.
They can land and take off again in the middle of nowhere, on some random strip of road. And the maintenance crew can move to a new spot during each sortie, so that each resupply occurs in a completely different location.
The idea is to make it really, really difficult to take out air capability without actually shooting down every single plane, while it is in flight. Something which has been happening less and less with all modern fighters.
Not that that has truly been put to the test with the Gripen.
But it’s a plane made for the defense requirements of European countries, which may need to sustain air capabilities while under active siege.
The Gripens main advantage is that it’s basically impossible to ground them by blowing up some airbases.
They can land and take off again in the middle of nowhere, on some random strip of road. And the maintenance crew can move to a new spot during each sortie, so that each resupply occurs in a completely different location.
The idea is to make it really, really difficult to take out air capability without actually shooting down every single plane, while it is in flight. Something which has been happening less and less with all modern fighters.
Not that that has truly been put to the test with the Gripen.
But it’s a plane made for the defense requirements of European countries, which may need to sustain air capabilities while under active siege.