Brazil Turns Fighter Deal Into Industry: Second Gripen Line Anchors a Latin American Aerospace Hub

Saab has opened a second rear-fuselage line for the F-39 Gripen in São Bernardo do Campo, just outside São Paulo, doubling capacity to as many as 16 shipsets a year.

It is the clearest sign yet that Brazil’s decade-old fighter deal has shifted from a classic “offset” to a durable place in Saab’s global supply chain.

Here’s the story in simple terms. In 2014, Brazil agreed to buy 36 Gripen E/F jets for R$39.3 billion ($7.42 billion). The plan was never just to assemble parts.

Brazil would learn to build complex pieces, maintain sensitive systems, and eventually help supply other customers. A decade on, that is exactly what’s happening.

The São Bernardo plant now manufactures major aerostructures—the tail cone, air brakes, and both forward and rear fuselages—used on jets assembled in Sweden and at Embraer’s line in Gavião Peixoto, the only Gripen E final assembly site outside Sweden.

The complex also runs a regional center to maintain the fighter’s AESA radar and electronic-warfare systems and has added work on civil weather radars.

About 110 people staff the aerostructures operation, and more than 350 Brazilians have been trained across design, flight testing, production, and maintenance.

The cockpit’s advanced displays come from AEL Sistemas in Porto Alegre, giving the program a domestic electronics backbone.

Brazil’s Gripen Partnership Elevates Its Aerospace Role

The Brazilian Air Force has received 10 aircraft so far. For the military, the second line means faster turnarounds and less reliance on foreign queues.

For industry, it means steady, high-precision jobs tied to global demand, not a one-off program that fades when deliveries end.

The story behind the story is about trust and reciprocity. Sweden’s choice of Embraer’s C-390 transport underscores a two-way industrial relationship, not a one-direction purchase.

That matters beyond Brazil: Latin America gains a credible support hub for modern fighters—airframes, avionics, and sustainment—all inside a country with a mature aerospace base.

Why you should care: this is how countries move up the value chain—by turning a purchase into know-how, tools, and long-term work. Brazil is no longer just flying the Gripen; it is helping build and sustain it.

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