The part, manufactured in São Bernardo do Campo, will be part of the 1st national lot of aero structures to be shipped to Gavião Peixoto, where the Gripen Fighter production line operates in Brazil.
The rear fuselage is the structure that holds the Gripen fighter engine. It is made of aluminum and titanium components, measuring 1.90m wide by 1.20m high and 2.50m deep. It weighs approximately 220 kilograms and has 750 parts for its assembly.
This is the second most complex airframe in production at SAAB Brazil’s plant in São Bernardo do Campo, and will be shipped directly to Embraer’s plant in Gavião Peixoto, where the Gripen fighter production line was inaugurated in Brazil.
Along with the first rear fuselage, SAAB Brazil will also ship the second forward fuselage produced in the country. Both structures should be available on the national production line still this July.
“This is the beginning of a supply flow of aero structures produced at SAAB’s factory in São Bernardo do Campo for the fighter production line in Gavião Peixoto, strengthening the national chain formed by the Brazilian Gripen Program,” commented Alexandre Barbosa, Engineering Manager of the aero structures factory in Brazil.
The Brazilian factory is part of the global chain for fighter parts. This means that parts produced in São Bernardo do Campo by Brazilian professionals can be shipped to either Gavião Peixoto or Linköping in Sweden.
“This is another milestone for Saab. Our plant is 100% operational, working on all the packages defined for Brazil. We have already reached an excellent degree of industrial maturity in the production of smaller parts, such as air brakes and tail cones. Now, we are evolving in the production of more complex parts, such as the front and rear fuselages. Thus, Brazil already has the knowledge, tools, processes and professionals necessary for the manufacture of structural components of a supersonic aircraft”, emphasizes Fabricio Saito, director of the SAAB Brazil factory, in São Bernardo do Campo.