The maiden flight of the first Hungarian dual seat Gripen aircraft took place yesterday at Saab in Linköping, Sweden. The aircraft, which was flown by a test pilot from Saab, was painted with the new gray Hungarian national insignia on the aircraft.

Following this maiden flight, the aircraft now enters a period of ground and flight-testing to verify that all systems are operating in accordance with the Hungarian Gripen configuration plan.

This is the first of two Gripen dual seat aircraft, together with twelve single seat aircraft, that Hungary will lease for a period of 10 years, before taking ownership of the aircraft under the terms of the agreement signed between the Swedish and Hungarian authorities in February 2003. Deliveries of the 14 Gripen aircraft to Hungary will take place between March 2006 and December 2007.

Hungarian pilots and technicians have been undergoing training - in Sweden with the Swedish Air Force, from the beginning of 2005 and are scheduled to return to Hungary ahead of the arrival of the first Gripen aircraft in March 2006.

Hungary will be the second NATO country to operate the latest Gripen fighter, but will be the first NATO operator to equip the latest versions of the Gripen aircraft for the air-to-surface role. These aircraft are the latest standard of the Gripen and are equipped with full color cockpit displays, a retractable air-to-air refueling probe and are fully NATO-interoperable.

Headlines

Final Three Gripen Fighters Delivered to Hungary (13 Dec 2007)
Swedish Air Force Gripen Upgrade Contract Finalized (17 Oct 2007)
Swedish Air Force Gripen Gets Cobra Helmet-Mounted Display (03 Oct 2007)
Two More Hungarian Gripen Fighters Delivered (13 Aug 2007)
SAAB Selected GE F414G Engine for New Gripen Variant (02 Jul 2007)
Second Meteor missile firings with Gripen completed (21 Jun 2006)
First Five Gripen Fighters have arrived in Hungary (22 Mar 2006)
Maiden Flight First South African Gripen (11 Nov 2005)
First South African Gripen Roll-out (29 Oct 2005)
First Flight Dual Seat Hungarian Gripen (28 Oct 2005)
Final Czech Gripens Delivered (31 Aug 2005)
First Flight Czech Two-seat Gripen (21 Apr 2005)
First Six Gripen Arrive in Czech Republic (18 Apr 2005)
Hungarian Saab Gripen First Flight (20 Feb 2005)
First Hungarian Gripen Ready (25 Jan 2005)
Celebration of the First Czech Republic Gripen aircraft (15 Dec 2004)
Maiden Flight of First Czech Gripen (18 Oct 2004)