Gripen Acquisitions On Final Stage

28 May 2024

The Philippines and Sweden have signed the final agreement to support Manila’s planned acquisition of 36 multi-role fighter (MRF) aircraft, command systems and airborne early-warning aircraft for the Philippine Air Force (PAF) under the $35B revised “Re-Horizon 3” modernization program.

The agreement was signed by Joakim Wallin, the Swedish defense materiel head of exports, and Joselito Ramos, the Philippines’ Assistant Secretary for logistics, acquisitions and self-reliant defense posture of the Department of National Defense (DND), and is titled “Implementing Arrangement Concerning the Procurement of Defense Material and Equipment” and it provides the framework for the purchase. 

In June 2023 the two countries had signed and MoU on the same topic, and it was ratified again in September 2023.

“The logistics cooperation is part of the commitment of the two countries under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning cooperation in the acquisition of defense materiel signed by the two countries on 3 June 2023, ratified on the same day by Sweden and by the Philippines on 4 September 2023,”  the Sweden embassy said Monday, referring to the MOU signed on the sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last year.

The purchase would be part of the final stage of the three-phase Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, a military capability upgrade plan, which started in 2013. 

According to a statement from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration, the Philippines has expressed interest in JAS-39 Gipen, Saab 340 airborne early-warning and control aircraft and 9Air ground-based C4I solutions command and control suite.

DND sources said the planned acquisition of the MRF aircraft under the “Re-Horizon 3” would be “multi-platform” and would consist of a “mixed fleet.” 

Last year, PAF chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreño led a small delegation to Sweden, where they engaged with the Swedish Air Force and toured the Saab facility to check the JAS-39 and Saab 340 airborne early warning and control aircraft.