Today, 18 April, the first six Gripen were flown to the Czech Republic. The aircraft were flown by three Czech Air Force pilots, two from the Swedish Air Force and one from FMV. The flight from FMV's facility near Linköping to the Czech Gripen's home, Caslav AB, lasted one hour.

The six aircraft will now undergo testing by the Czech Air Force before the official handover ceremony on 26 April 2005. In August 2005, a second batch of eight aircraft will be delivered, completing the Czech order for the lease of 14 JAS 39C/D aircraft until 2015.

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)