Embraer and Saab sign HoA for 20 additional Gripen jets at Gavião Peixoto

Embraer and Saab announced on Monday (21) that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (Head of Agreement – HoA) covering the potential production of 20 additional Gripen fighter jets at Embraer’s industrial complex in Gavião Peixoto, in the countryside of São Paulo state.

Announcement at Farnborough International Airshow 2026

The two companies revealed the news during the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, marking a further step in a ten-year partnership between Embraer and Saab. Under the arrangement, Embraer would take charge of assembling the aircraft, adding capacity alongside Saab’s production line in Linköping, Sweden, as global demand for the Swedish fighter increases.

According to the companies, the plan would expand Gripen programme output through a globally integrated manufacturing model, giving greater flexibility to meet the requirements of future international customers.

Embraer–Saab Gripen assembly at Gavião Peixoto

“The expansion of this partnership with Saab reflects the mutual trust built over the last ten years and reinforces Embraer’s strategic role in the Gripen programme. We are very well positioned to support increased production capacity as demand makes it necessary,” said Bosco da Costa Junior, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security.

From Saab’s perspective, the understanding underlines the Swedish manufacturer’s long-term commitment to Latin America and positions the company for future commercial opportunities: “The partnership between Saab and Embraer reinforces our long-term commitment to Latin America. Together, we are strengthening our capabilities, ensuring additional capacity for future business opportunities, and taking a forward-looking approach to support the evolving needs of our customers across the region,” said Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab.

Embraer’s Gavião Peixoto site has become one of the company’s leading industrial hubs, bringing together advanced manufacturing capability, a specialised workforce, and a supplier base spanning Brazilian and international companies. The manufacturers say the complex plays a strategic role in scaling production and in reinforcing the high-technology aerospace sector.

Ten years of cooperation and technology transfer

Collaboration between Embraer and Saab began more than a decade ago as part of the Gripen programme for the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). Since then, the companies have established a wide-ranging technology transfer programme, including the training of engineers, technicians, assembly operators and maintenance specialists, with courses delivered in both Brazil and Sweden.

The manufacturers say this exchange has strengthened the industrial capabilities of both companies, expanded knowledge-sharing and laid the groundwork for new growth opportunities in the defence sector. If the agreement moves forward-depending on the FAB signing the contract addendum to purchase additional F-39 aircraft-producing the 20 fighters in Gavião Peixoto would be another step towards consolidating the Brazilian facility as part of the Gripen’s global manufacturing chain.