During 8 to 12 April, two Gripen will be flown from the Swiss airbase Emmen, near Lucerne. The flights take place at the request of the Swiss defence procurement authority armasuisse.

The flights are carried out to verify the functionality of the Gripen fixed 27 mm automatic on-board cannon in the Swiss environment, which was not done previously. A total of five flights will be made, of which the last two will be with live ammunition.
– Along with a Swiss test pilot, I will carry out the validation flights at the air force shooting range in Axalp, located at 2200 meters altitude in the mountainous area in the central part of the country, said Richard Ljungberg, chief test pilot at Saab.

Unlike the single-seat Gripen (Gripen C and Gripen E), the two-seater (Gripen D and Gripen F Demonstrator) is not equipped with on-board cannon. For this reason, the flights of this week will be carried out with the single-seat Gripen C version.

SAAB press release