Sweden’s Saab ties up with Adani with an eye on IAF fighter order

America’s Lockheed Martin will be a major competitor for Saab for a deal with the IAF for single-engine fighters

Swedish aerospace firm Saab and Indian conglomerate Adani group announced a partnership on Friday to compete for an Indian Air Force programme to build fighter jets in the country. US defence giant Lockheed Martin has already stitched up an alliance with Tata Advanced Systems Limited for the same programme.

File photo of a Gripen fighter aircraft at the Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru . (AP)

HT had reported on August 29 that the IAF is likely to release a request for information for building the single-engine fighters in India within two months to scale up its combat capabilities. The warplanes will be built by an Indian firm in collaboration with a foreign defence contractor under the defence ministry’s strategic partnership model that seeks to bring in top-end military technology for building cutting-edge weapons.

Lockheed has proposed to build the F-16 Block 70 fighter and Saab has offered to build its latest Gripen E fighter along with their Indian partners. The IAF is likely to project a requirement of 100 such fighters.

“We are keen to play an instrumental role in helping transform India into a destination for world class high-tech defence manufacturing,” Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani said at a press briefing.

Saab makes the Gripen fighter jets.