The Saab Gripen upsets F-35 supporters in NATO

 On April 6, 2025, Micael Johansson, the CEO of Swedish aerospace giant Saab, confirmed that the company is engaged in talks with Portugal to potentially supply JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets.

Photo by Sgt Müller Marin

This event comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions in Europe and a broader debate about the continent’s reliance on American-made military hardware. As Portugal weighs its options, the Gripen emerges as a cost-effective and versatile alternative to pricier platforms like the Lockheed Martin F-35, raising questions about NATO’s future procurement trends and the strategic implications for transatlantic defense cooperation.

SAAB is, reportedly, in talks with Canada and Portugal over potential Gripen procurement, after both countries expressed unease in recent weeks with their programs to acquire US-produced F-35s.

Compared to its competitors, the Gripen E/F offers distinct advantages for a nation like Portugal. The Lockheed Martin F-35A, while unmatched in stealth and sensor fusion, comes with a per-unit cost exceeding $80 million and annual maintenance expenses that can strain smaller defense budgets.

Incidentally a 2023 U.S. Government Accountability Office report noted that only 55 percent of U.S. F-35s were mission-capable at any given time, highlighting the platform’s logistical complexity. 

The Gripen, by contrast, strikes a balance between advanced technology and affordability, with a flyaway cost of around $40 million per unit and a design that reduces maintenance downtime. Its ability to conduct air-to-air, air-to-ground, and reconnaissance missions makes it a changing-role platform well-suited to Portugal’s multifaceted defense requirements.

Could this deal mark the beginning of a broader European pivot away from U.S. systems, or will it remain an outlier in a market still dominated by powerful American companies? Only time will tell, but the conversation itself underscores a critical juncture in the evolution of global air power.

I would put my money on the Saab Gripen. 

Selfish Or Blind

Without any doubt, this extensive article requires that you secure a comfortable chair, be prepared to read until the final sentence and, regardless of which side of the aisle you inhabit, inherit enormous enrichment.  

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/jordan-peterson-are-older-liberal-voting-canadians-selfish-or-blind

Or click here:  selfish or blind

                                                        Acknowledgments to National Post and Dr. J. Peterson

2025 and The Future

 Just visualize the following scenario;

1- We know Trump and Putin met together during Trump 1 presidency;

2- They held secret talks for an afternoon which have never been disclosed;

3- Putin wants Ukraine and more countries in Europe, while Trump wants Canada, Greenland, Panama, and probably parts of Mexico or even Cuba;

4- Xi Jinping wants Taiwan no later than 2050 and probably other countries in Asia even Australia;

5- Early in the Trump 2 presidency he gives Ukraine to Putin who will keep NATO out of North America while Trump takes Canada;

6-  Putin and Trump green-light China to take Taiwan on condition it stays out of Europe and North America.

7- Under the new world order, everyone is happy and there is peace until one of them wants the whole thing for himself.

I know many other people think something like this will happen, too.

John Outram - Valued Contributor 

A Monopoly

Permit me to present today's example of monopoly capitalism. 

Nestlé S.A.

Nestlé — Nespresso — Nescafe — KitKat — Smarties — Nesquik — Stouffer’s — Vittel — Maggi — L’Oreal — Etc.

Twenty-nine (29) of the top Nestlé brands each have annual sales of over 1 billion CHF (about US$1.1 billion,  A number of corporate acquisitions including Crosse & Blackwell in 1960, Findus in 1963, Libby's in 1971, Rowntree Mackintosh in 1988, Klim in 1998, and Gerber in 2007.

(The study of Canada's depleting fresh water reservoirs is astonishing) 

XB-1 Flight Marks Buildup To Supersonic Test Campaign

Boom’s ambitious plan to develop a 21st-century supersonic airliner took one step closer to reality on March 22 with the successful first flight of the company’s XB-1 demonstrator—the world’s first privately developed faster-than-sound civil aircraft—at Mojave Air & Space Port, California.  Aviation Week & Space Technology

Spiritually, I have tried to avoid the use of the word ‘hate’, therefore, I shall just say that I feel an intense dislike for this new US experiment.

Fifty-five years ago, in 1969, the first flight of the British Aircraft Corporation Concorde took place, capable of a supersonic speed of Mach 2.04 (1,350 mph).  

(Note; A British HP-115 experimental demonstrator, similar to the XB-1, flew even earlier in 1961.)

It is well known that Concorde flew for British Airways and Air France, also, Braniff International Airways, and Singapore Airlines.  Orders for more than 100 Concordes were made by about 16 airlines (Including Air Canada).  But, later, destroyed by US public pressure because of perceived noise.  

During that period, my home was on the final approach into Heathrow and, even as an experienced aviation enthusiast, of all the aircraft on that path there was nothing so heart-stopping as the bright white Concorde.  And, thus, my intense dislike of US aviation today … unable to build, e.g., a B-737.  

Just imagine what the Concorde would be today after numerous twenty-first century improvements … notwithstanding the if's and but's of the US aerospace industry swamp.