Saab’s fighter is the highlight of CRUZEX 2024, the largest multinational operational training exercise in Latin America, organized by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB).
More than two thousand military personnel from Brazil and fifteen other nations from Latin America, Africa, Europe and the United States are gathered at one of the largest operational air exercises in the Southern Hemisphere, Cruzex 2024.
Held from November 3 to 15 at the Natal Air Base in Rio Grande do Norte, the exercise features more than 100 combat aircraft. The main novelty of this edition is the debut of the F-39E Gripen in highly complex scenarios.
“It’s a real honor to see the Gripen E debut at CRUZEX. We have been looking forward to this moment, which marks the Gripen E’s first participation in a multinational military exercise. It is significant that this inaugural event will be hosted by the Brazilian Air Force, our valued customer and partner,” said Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab.
The most advanced fighter in service in Latin America will perform a wide range of tasks in so-called Composite Air Operations (COMAO), where a large number of aircraft with different objectives act simultaneously against an enemy to saturate its defenses, increasing the efficiency of the mission.
“At Cruzex, we are acting as both an enemy and a friendly force, the latter being the role we will be playing the most. In this context, we will carry out Offensive Counterair (OCA) operations, in which the F-39E Gripen will protect friendly forces while they conduct actions within enemy territory, and air operations, in addition to Defensive Counterair (DCA) operations, which aim to defend against enemy attacks,” explained Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Lincoln Santos Fórneas, commander of the 1st Air Defense Group (1º GDA), the pioneering unit to operate the Gripen in the FAB.
In operation since December 2022, the F-39E Gripen incorporates cutting-edge technologies, some of which are new to the FAB, such as the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and the passive Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST) sensor. These sensors, together with maneuverability, performance and communication, navigation and electronic warfare systems, pose a major challenge to the aircraft.