Saab moves Sweden’s future fighter project into next phase
Saab has received a new order from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) for continued work on Sweden’s future fighter system, extending studies and demonstrator activity that will help shape the country’s combat air capability after 2040.
The order, announced by Saab on September 9, 2026, covers work from 2026 to 2028 and includes options for 2029 and 2030. It is valued at approximately SEK 2.9 billion (about $302 million).
According to Saab, the work includes flying and ground-based demonstrators, advanced studies, and the development of future system concepts covering both manned and unmanned aircraft. The company said the order builds on contracts awarded in 2024 and 2025.
Sweden extends future fighter demonstrator work
Demonstrator activity was already funded under the previous phase of the program. FMV said on October 14, 2025, that an addition to its Saab contract worth SEK 2.676 billion covered concept studies, technology development and work on a flying demonstrator.
Under that arrangement, concept and technology development was due to continue through the third quarter of 2026, while demonstrator work, including first flights, was scheduled to run through 2027.
The latest contract therefore extends that activity by at least one year, and potentially through 2030 if both options are exercised.
Saab said the program is intended to strengthen Swedish capabilities in systems integration, autonomy, signature adaptation, propulsion, digital development and future production methods, while building expertise and reducing technical risk.
“We are very pleased that FMV continues to show confidence in Saab through this new contract,” Lars Tossman, head of Saab’s Aeronautics business area, said in the release.
Work will shape Sweden’s post-2040 combat air system
The contract forms part of Sweden’s Future Combat Aviation Concept study, known as Koncept för Framtida Stridsflyg (KFS), which Saab first outlined publicly in May 2024.
KFS sits within the broader Vägval stridsflyg program run by FMV alongside the Swedish Armed Forces and the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI).
FMV has said the effort aims to build the technical and operational basis for a future decision on how Sweden should provide its combat air capability after 2040.
Parts of the work are already being tested in flight. FMV funds Project Beyond under KFS, the initiative under which a Gripen E flew with Helsing’s Centaur artificial intelligence agent over the Baltic Sea in May and June 2025.
Saab A3-001 uncrewed system. (Credit: Saab)Saab has also put a timeframe on the uncrewed side of its future combat-air work.
At Malmen Air Base on August 22, 2026, the company presented a full-scale model of an uncrewed combat air system concept designated A3-001. Peter Nilsson, head of Saab’s Advanced Programs business unit, said Saab intends to fly uncrewed demonstrators with fighter-like characteristics before 2030.
Nilsson described A3 itself as a separate Saab concept for a system that could follow in the mid-2030s if Sweden decides to build on the current work. The post Saab moves Sweden’s future fighter project into next phase appeared first on AeroTime.
Saab has received a new order from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) for continued work on Sweden’s…
The post Saab moves Sweden’s future fighter project into next phase appeared first on AeroTime.
