Key Points and Summary – Sweden has launched a program with Saab to develop a potential sixth-generation fighter, awarding an initial contract for concept studies through 2027.
-Renderings reveal a stealthy, tailless, blended-wing design that could be optionally manned, similar to emerging U.S. platforms.
JAS 39 Gripen E Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-This high-end aircraft is likely intended to be survivable, not expendable like U.S. Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones.
-One possibility is that this advanced unmanned or manned platform could operate in tandem with Sweden’s upgraded 4.5-generation JAS 39 Gripen, providing a forward stealth capability while the Gripen acts as a command node from safer distances.
Saab Getting In on the ‘NGAD’ 6th Generation Fighter Race?
The Swedish military is in the early stages of collaborating with Saab and other companies to build what appears to be a 6th-generation manned or unmanned stealth fighter jet.
Available design renderings of Sweden’s mysterious new fighter reveal a platform that could be either manned or unmanned, a versatility now woven into several US aircraft, such as the F-47 or lesser-known Darkstar SR-72.
The image certainly looks like a smooth, stealthy, blended wing-body horizontal configuration with an F-35-like single-engine column.
Similar to other 6th-generation platforms, the Swedish design has no tails or fins, a configuration that, of course, greatly lowers the radar signature of an aircraft.
Saab Gets the Contract
“The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) recently awarded Saab with the contract, worth around $276 million and covering the period from 2025 to 2027.
As well as the FMV, Saab will work with the Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish Defense Research Agency, GKN Aerospace, and other unnamed industry partners,” The War Zone writes.
What’s less visible, however, is likely to determine the true performance parameters and capabilities of the platform, or series of platforms, Saab and the Swedish military intend for the project.
It would not be at all surprising if this new 6th-gen aircraft functioned similarly to the US Air Force’s “Family of Systems” approach to the F-47, where manned platforms operate small groups of drones in real time from the cockpit.
Shown is a graphical artist rendering of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Platform. The rendering highlights the Air Force’s sixth generation fighter, the F-47. The NGAD Platform will bring lethal, next-generation technologies to ensure air superiority for the Joint Force in any conflict. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
F-47 Lockheed Photo. Image Credit: Lockheed Handout.
In this respect, it would not be surprising if the new Swedish aircraft were an exquisite, high-tech, stealthy drone for sensing, reconnaissance, and attack. US Air Force CCAs, while critical, are being built to be mass-produced, lower-cost, and attritable; however, some early demonstrators do look a bit stealthy.
However, the idea is to engineer larger numbers of more “expendable” drones capable of flying forward to test enemy air defenses, conduct forward reconnaissance, or even launch strikes when directed by a human.
This Saab project, should it ultimately emerge as a drone fighter platform, is a sophisticated, 6th-generation-capable kind of aircraft engineered with advanced stealth properties.
This would suggest that Saab’s 6th-gen aircraft or drone is “not” being built to be attritable but rather as a highly advanced 6th-gen platform engineered to fly for decades into the future.
The image of the new aircraft published by The War Zone shows a fighter-jet-like stealthy aircraft with no cockpit for crew, suggesting that Saab and the Swedish military might plan to engineer an unmanned design.
However, depending upon the scale and actual dimensions of the platform, it appears entirely feasible that a cockpit for a manned-crewed could easily be integrated.
The most likely scenario, based on the US Air Force’s B-21 and F-47, is that it will be designed to serve both roles.
Manned and Unmanned Options
One possibility might be to operate a new 6th-generation unmanned stealth platform in close coordination with Saab’s updated 4th-Gen “plus” JAS 39 Gripen fighter.
These advanced tactical jets have been upgraded to expand performance parameters far beyond the limitations of most 4th-gen aircraft.
The JAS 39 Gripen is considered a 4th-generation “plus” aircraft, meaning it has received many upgrades, making the latest variants more lethal and survivable. It has upgraded electronics. It is capable of hitting high speeds of Mach 2. However, the Saab Gripen is by no means 5th gen.
It features a slightly rounded or blended, quasi-stealthy fuselage, but clearly lacks the stealth properties necessary to challenge or evade Russian-built air defenses.
However, suppose the Gripen were intended to operate as a host-ship aerial node in less-contested airspace.
In that case, it might be able to employ 6th-generation forward drones using stealth without needing next-generation stealth itself. This would depend heavily upon the range and security of its ability to network across long-distance formations with unmanned systems.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
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