More than two thousand military personnel from Brazil and fifteen other nations in Latin America, Africa, Europe and the United States are gathered in one of the largest operational air exercises in the Southern Hemisphere, Cruzex 2024.
Held from November 3 to 15 at Natal Air Base, in Rio Grande do Norte, the exercise features more than 100 combat aircraft. The main novelty of this edition is the debut of the F-39E Gripen in highly complex scenarios.
“It is a real honour to see the debut of Gripen E at CRUZEX. We have been looking forward to this moment, which marks the first participation of Gripen E in a multinational military exercise. It is significant that this inaugural event is hosted by the Brazilian Air Force, our valued customer and partner,” said Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab.
The most advanced fighter in service in Latin America will perform a wide range of tasks in so-called composite air missions (Composite Air Operations, COMAO), where a large number of aircraft with different objectives act simultaneously against an enemy to saturate its defenses, increasing mission efficiency.
“At Cruzex, we are acting as both an enemy and a friendly force, with the latter being the one we will perform most. In this context, we will carry out offensive operations (Offensive Counterair, OCA), in which the F-39E Gripen will protect friendly forces while conducting actions inside enemy territory, and air operations, in addition to defensive air counter operations (Defensive Counterair, DCA) which aims to defend against enemy attacks”, explained Lieutenant Colonel Aviator Ramon Lincoln Santos Fórneas, commander of the 1st Air Defense Group (1º GDA), a pioneering unit to operate the Gripen in the FAB.
In operation since December 2022, the F-39E Gripen incorporates cutting-edge technologies, some of which are new to the FAB, such as the Active Electronic Scanning Radar (Active Electronically Scanned Array, AESA) and the ive infrared target search sensor (Infra-Red Search and Track, IRST). These sensors, together with maneuverability, performance and communication, navigation and electronic warfare systems, position the F-39E Gripen as a strategic vector for maintaining the sovereignty of Brazilian airspace.
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