At the multinational air force exercise “Cruzex 2024” in Brazil, around 2,000 military personnel from Brazil and 15 other nations from Latin America, Africa, Europe and the United States are currently practising a wide variety of scenarios with more than 100 combat aircraft. The highlight is the training debut of the Brazilian Gripen E fighter jets from the Swedish defense company Saab.
“It is an honor to witness the debut of Gripen E at ‘Cruzex’. We have been eagerly awaiting this moment, which marks the Gripen E’s first participation in a multinational military exercise,” said Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab.
The F-39E Gripen (Brazilian type designation) will perform a wide range of Composite Air Operations (COMAO) as part of the exercise, which involves flying a large number of aircraft with different targets simultaneously against an enemy in order to saturate its defenses and thus increase the efficiency of the mission.
“In ‘Cruzex’ we act as both adversary and friendly forces, primarily in the latter role. In this context, we will carry out offensive counter-air operations (OCA) in which the F-39E Gripen will protect the friendly forces,” explained Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Lincoln Santos Fórneas, commander of the 1st Air Defense Group (1º GDA), the pioneering unit for Gripen operations in the Brazilian Air Force.
Brazil has ordered a total of 36 Gripen E/F from Saab (28 single-seater Gripen E and eight two-seater Gripen F), which have been successively handed over to the Brazilian Air Force since the end of 2021. Ende 2022 hat die Armee im Rahmen einer Zeremonie bei der „First Air Defence Group” auf dem Luftwaffenstützpunkt Anápolis den Start des operationellen Flugbetriebs gefeiert.
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