BY : GERARD O’DWYER, STOCKHOLM for defensenews

Saab is prepared to compromise on production location if the company secures an order from India to deliver 126 JAS Gripen fighters to the Indian air force, the company has said. Saab produces the Gripen at its facilities in Linköping.
Gripen’s main competitors are the F-16 and F/A-18 planes, the Dassault French Rafale, the Russian Mikoyan MiG-35 and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Saab’s statement follows reports from India’s Ministry of Defence that suggest India will demand at least two-thirds of the aircraft be produced in India. Other MoD reports indicate that suppliers must be willing to produce up to 108 aircraft in India. The full value of the order is $10 billion.
The demand underscores the harsh realities of international business, said Saab spokesman Anders Florenius.
“It would, of course, be great if things were like before, when we would secure an order and produce that order in Linköping or Karlskoga. But that’s not the way the market looks any more,” Florenius said.