After producing several aircraft with plenty of potential but little international appeal, Sweden’s SAAB aerospace and defence company finally hit the jackpot with the JAS 39 Gripen E or Griffin, a multirole combat aircraft with a delta wing and canard configuration with fly-by-wire flight controls.The Swedish could have simply bought foreign aircraft but decided to develop their own fleet catering to their needs, especially during rising tensions with the Soviet Union and the persistent threat of an invasion. The Gripen was influenced by several aircraft of the era, and its first iteration finally flew in 1988, delivering incredible potential. So much so that several variants are still being built to this day. The latest version of the SAAB Gripen is comparable to the Russian Mikoyan MIG29 and the American General Dynamics F16 Fighting Falcon and has already caught the attention of an impressive array of countries. It is a highly competitive marketplace, but the sky’s the limit for the company’s most successful aircraft to date…