Sweden modernizing Gripen fleet

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 24 (UPI) -- The Swedish military is upgrading its Gripen C/D aircraft, with changes to both hardware and software.

The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration, FMV, said the changes being made this spring include the addition of the Meteor missile to give the fighters increased long-range air-to-air capability.

The missile's propulsion is managed by a ramjet engine.

"The ramjet engine provides a significant increase in range," said Michael Östergren, project manager for the version 20 upgrade at FMV. "It makes it harder for an enemy to protect themselves from Meteor compared with missiles operated with conventional propelled rocket [engines]."

Meteor was developed by Sweden, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Britain.

Also included in the Version 2 modernization is the integration of the Small Diameter Bomb, a precision weapon for ground targets dropped from a great stand-off distance.

"The SDB is loaded with target data from the aircraft prior launch and then guides itself to the target," says Östergren, FMV said strengthened protection is being added against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats to protect Gripen pilots in contaminated environments and to facilitate the aircraft's decontamination once it has landed.

Another innovation being added is a ground collision avoidance system.