The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a light single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stability design and fly-by-wire flight controls. Later aircraft are fully NATO interoperable. As of 2020, more than 271 Gripens of all models, A–F, have been delivered.
Saab JAS 39 Gripen
Czech Gripen deploying defensive flares, 2011
A Swedish Air Force Gripen undergoing in-flight refuelling
Underside of a Gripen in flight, 2012
A light fighter or lightweight fighter is a fighter aircraft towards the low end of the practical range of weight, cost, and complexity over which fighters are fielded. The light or lightweight fighter retains carefully selected competitive features, in order to provide cost-effective design and performance.
The General Dynamics YF-16 and Northrop YF-17 were competing designs in the US Lightweight Fighter program.
Caudron C.714
The German Bf 109 was the second smallest major fighter of WWII, and produced in greater numbers than any fighter in history.
The Japanese A6M2 Zero was the lightest major fighter of WWII. Extremely maneuverable and long range, it was highly successful early in the war, though surpassed in the later stages.
