In 2017, Saab and Adani Group announced their partnership to manufacture the Gripen E fighter in India, however, Saab announced on Monday that it was cancelling that agreement

Saab, a Swedish aerospace and defence company that had entered into a partnership with Adani Group to manufacture the Gripen E fighter in India, announced on Monday that it was cancelling that agreement.

“We have decided not to pursue the arrangement with the Adanis,” Mats Palmberg, chairman and managing director of Saab India, said in a media interaction on Monday in New Delhi.

On 31 August 2017, Saab and Adani Group announced their partnership. The agreement would take effect if Saab were chosen as the foreign partner to supply the Gripen E fighter.

Saab is one of seven global aerospace conglomerates competing in the tender for 114 medium multirole fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force, which is estimated to be worth more than Rs 60,000-70,000 crore (IAF).

Aside from Saab, these include Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet (US), Lockheed Martin's F-21 (US), Dassault's Rafale (France), Eurofighter Typhoon (Europe) and two Russian fighters: the MiG-35 and the Sukhoi-35.

When asked who Saab would partner with to build the Gripen E in India, Palmberg said that if the Indian defence MINISTRY allowed Saab to own 74 per cent of the manufacturing entity — which is permitted under the foreign direct investment cap on defence and aerospace manufacturing — it would opt to manufacture the fighters in a company in which Saab owned 74 per cent.

The defence ministry has issued an information request and is reportedly evaluating responses from original equipment manufacturers.

The ministry will then issue a request for the proposal after drafting an acceptance of necessity.

Saab was the first foreign vendor to make its move in what the aerospace industry expects to be a hotly contested acquisition, with a detailed media briefing on the performance characteristics of the Gripen E fighter on Monday.

The cancellation of an earlier fighter tender for 126 medium multirole combat aircraft in 2007 necessitated this acquisition. This resulted in a government-to-government purchase of 36 Rafale fighters from Dassault.

However, the IAF was left with a critical shortage of fighter aircraft, necessitating a new tender for 114 medium fighters.

In its briefing, Saab emphasised Gripen E's use of next-generation networking technology. Saab claims that its aircraft offers maximum operational availability with minimal logistics requirements, thanks to a new, more powerful General Electric F-414 engine.

However, the IAF will have the final say on the quality of the seven fighters after a series of flight tests.