Botswana Defence Force Air Wing to buy 16 Saab JAS-39C/D Gripen multirole fighters. that reported The Business Weekly & Review.
Botswana has selected the Saab Gripen multirole fighter as the Swedish air force signs a contract to upgrade its aircraft. The total cost of the purchase will be from 16 to 18 billion Botswana pula (from 1.45 to US $ 1.63 billion), the delivery should be made within two to three years.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Swedish defense procurement agency Försvarets Materielverk (FMV) Linda Bengtsson 13 May 2016 confirmed the negotiations with Botstvanoy the sale of the Gripen fighter, but clarified that it is only about eight aircraft JAS-39C / D.
The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. It was designed to replace the Saab 35 Draken and 37 Viggen in the Swedish Air Force . The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stability design and fly-by-wire flight controls. It is powered by the Volvo RM12, and has a top speed of Mach 2. Later aircraft are modified for NATO interoperability standards and to undertake in-flight refuelling. There were 186 Gripens in service with military users as of January 2013.