Key Points and Summary – A rundown of the Saab JAS 39 Gripen E’s five best qualities showcases why it is a top 4.5-generation fighter.
-First is its exceptional cost-effectiveness, with a flight-hour cost far lower than its competitors.
JAS 39 Gripen Fighter from Back in 2017. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Second is its true multirole capability, excelling in air, ground, and recon missions.
-Third is its exceptional agility and supercruise ability, thanks to a lightweight delta-wing design. Fourth are its advanced avionics, including a modern AESA radar and electronic warfare suite.
-Finally, its STOL capability allows it to operate from short, improvised runways, enhancing survivability.
Why the JAS 39 Gripen E Fighter Is One of the Best on Earth: 5 Reasons
“Gripen” is the Swedish word for griffon (or gryphon), which, according to Mythology.net, is “a chimeric creature, part eagle and part lion.
With incredible strength, unfailing protective instincts, and a zero-tolerance policy against evil, it is the superhero of mythological creatures.
No villain can mess with the griffin!” (“Chimeric” is not to be confused with the chimaera fish species, AKA the ghost shark.)
With those sorts of heroic qualities, it only makes sense that the Swedish Air Force (Svenska flygvapnet or simply Flygvapnet) would confer the mythic creature’s name upon one of its warbirds, the Saab AB JAS 39 Gripen-E multirole fighter plane.
Although a 4.5 Generation fighter, some pundits argue that it’s a viable alternative to the 5th Generation F-35 stealth fighter jet.
Now, mind you, that’s a debate for another time and place, but the Gripen-E is undoubtedly a highly respectable warplane.
National Security Journal now does a rundown of the JAS 39’s Top 5 qualities.
Attribute #1: Cost-Effectiveness
In other words, “More bang for the buck,” as the American slang phrase goes, or to put a more Swedish spin on that, “More kaboom for the krona.”
JAS 39 Gripen Taking Off. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
As noted by the anonymous author of a May 9, 2025, article for Military Update titled “JAS 39 Gripen Fighter Jet: 5 Key Advantages You Should Know“: “Cost-efficiency is perhaps the single most compelling advantage of the JAS 39 Gripen. Modern fighter jets, particularly the advanced ones like the F-35 Lightning II and Eurofighter Typhoon, can cost upwards of $30,000–40,000 per flight hour. These high operating costs make them prohibitively expensive for smaller countries with limited defense budgets … In contrast, the JAS 39 Gripen operates at an estimated cost of $6,000–7,000 per flight hour—a significant reduction in expenditure. This lower operational cost includes not only fuel and maintenance but also parts and support services. For nations like Brazil, Hungary, and Thailand, the Gripen offers an effective solution without draining national defense budgets.”
Attribute #2: Multirole Capability
“Flexibility is the key to airpower,” quoth the famous dictum by early 20th-century airpower theorist General Giulio Douhet, and the Gripen certainly lives up to the good general’s truism. The JAS 39 could be nicknamed the “JAT 39,” meaning “Jack of All Trades,” because the plane excels in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) roles alike.
For the air-to-air role, the Gripen can wield missiles such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile; nicknamed the “Slammer”) active radar-guided missile and the V3E A-Darter (“Agile Darter”) infrared (IR) heat-seeking missile.
For a ground-pounding mission, it packs munitions such as the GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs and Mk 82 general-purpose bombs, aided by the aircraft’s advanced targeting pod. The ISR role is enabled by the Thales Digital Joint Reconnaissance Pod (DJRP).
JAS 39 Gripen. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Attribute #3: Exceptional Agility and Performance
-Fly-by-wire control system that provides real-time, precise control over the aircraft’s movements and improves stability
-Delta wing design complemented by canards, enabling a high degree of maneuverability, allowing the warbird to perform rapid turns, quick accelerations, and high-angle-of-attack maneuvers
-An empty weight of approximately 7,000 kg (15,400 pounds), making the Gripen much lighter than many of its peers, further boosting maneuverability
-A max airspeed of Mach 2 (approx. 1,550 mph or 2,500 km/h), along with the ability to supercruise, i.e. sustain supersonic speeds without afterburners, which not only increases fuel efficiency by relying strictly on the raw power of the engine, but concurrently *decreases* the fighter’s signature and makes it harder detect (even though it’s not an actual stealth aircraft)
Attribute #4: Advanced Avionics
Such as:
-The Leonardo Raven ES-05 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which gives the Gripen the ability to detect and track multiple targets at long range, even in dense, cluttered environments
-Advanced electronic warfare (EW) capability via the ALQ-TLS electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod
-Leonardo AN/ALQ-260 BriteCloud expendable active decoys (EADs)
Attribute #5: Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Capabilities
A common attribute with the F-35B US Marine Corps variant and the classic Harrier jump jet.
The STOL capability enables operability from dispersed locations, such as military roads or small, makeshift airstrips, making the Gripen a more difficult target for enemy forces.
This decentralized approach, in turn, enhances survivability by ensuring that a single strike does not eliminate a country’s airpower capabilities.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
More Military
Army MV-75 Has a “Digital Backbone” to Stand Up to China in the Pacific
The F-35 Stealth Fighter Great Leap Forward Has Arrived
New Challenger 3 NATO Tank Is Built for Just 1 Mission It Can’t Fulfill
Sunk 10,000 Feet Down: A U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine Was Lost, And No One Knows Why
