Saab’s Gripen E Fighter’s Wing Suddenly Grew In Size, and it wasn't because of the Swedish Bikini Team visiting the airbase.

The improved version above.

Saab’s Gripen E multirole fighter has been chalking up some milestones of late, including the delivery of a first series-produced aircraft to the Swedish government, for pre-service tests. Intriguingly, one of the jets has also begun to sport a revised wing planform, with additions suddenly appearing on the trailing edge of one of the prototypes, resulting in a wing of overall greater dimensions.

 As to the benefits that the new wing will bring, Saab has emphasized that it will boost the Gripen E’s ability to carry heavier loads, in the form of external weapons, fuel tanks, and other stores. For a smaller fighter like the Gripen, this is clearly a considerable bonus, although it’s not clear at this point how it will change the kinds of loads that it can carry. It’s worth noting, too, that the Gripen E can already carry some fairly heavy loads, including up to four of the big Saab RBS 15 anti-ship missiles, although this configuration has not so far been seen in the air. Other heavy loads include up to nine air-to-air missiles, or 16 Small Diameter Bombs, albeit at the expense of external fuel.

Expanding the combat potential of the Gripen E is also in keeping with recent Swedish defense policy, which has seen a renewed emphasis on its fighter fleet as the country grapples with a further deterioration in regional security policy including increasing Russian belligerence. As part of this, as well as joining NATO, Sweden has decided to retain its older Gripen C/D fleet for longer, as well as procuring 60 new-generation Gripen Es. The Gripen E is a substantially different aircraft — as you can read about here.

The older version - still impressive.

At the same time, the effect that the new wing has on the maneuverability of the Gripen E should not be disregarded. A wing with a larger area certainly translates into improved flight performance at low speeds — especially useful for within-visual-range combat. Overall, larger elevons should mean that the Gripen E has improved pitch control and roll control, fundamental to optimizing agility. The change also will likely have benefits for general handling at the lower end of the speed spectrum, including takeoffs and landings, especially with heavier loads.

Again, it should be noted that low-speed handling and maneuverability is not the key driver behind the Gripen E’s revised planform, but it would certainly appear to be more than a useful byproduct.

It’s also worth recalling that Eurofighter also offers a package to improve the heavy load-carrying capabilities of its Typhoon fighter. The Aerodynamic Modification Kit (AMK) involved adding fuselage strakes, leading-edge root extensions, and increased-area elevons, increasing the maximum lift created by the wing by a reported 25 percent.