The first dual seat Gripen made its maiden flight on Friday 11 November 2005. The aircraft painted in South African Air Force (SAAF) grey livery was flown by South African test pilot Charl Coetzee and Saab test pilot Magnus Olsson. The flight lasted 1 hour 10 minutes, taking off from Saab's Flight Test Centre in Linköping, Sweden.

The aircraft will now undergo a thorough inspection and systems validation, followed by more flight tests later this month. It will be transferred to South Africa in August 2006 joining the flight development program to integrate South Africa's custom avionics and weapons systems.

South Africa ordered 28 Gripen multi-role fighters in 1999, together with 24 BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainers. The Gripen fighters will be delivered to the SAAF from 2008 onwards.

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)