With Saab Chief Test pilot Mats Thorbiornson and South African Air Force (SAAF) Colonel Mike Edwards at the controls, South Africa’s second Gripen fighter (SA02) made history when during a scheduled flight test sortie, it passed the cumulative 100,000 flying hour mark for the Gripen fleet of new generation fighters.

The Gripen D (two-seat) fighter in South African Air Force markings took to the skies over Saab in Linköping, Sweden, at 09.15 on 28 January 2008.

After a one and a half hour flight, which included a 10 minute hot re-fuelling short turn around and take-off, Mats Thorbiornson and Mike Edwards were delighted with the success of the sortie.

Since the maiden flight of Gripen, the Saab Test team have kept a record of every flight hour logged during Gripen’s development programme at Saab, and also all the in-service hours logged by the Swedish Air Force and Gripen’s export customers Hungary, the Czech Republic, the UK’s Empire Test Pilots’ School and South Africa.