Norway to Negotiate With Saab's Competitor

(November 20, 2008) -- The Norwegian Defense Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen today announced that the Norwegian Government recommends to negotiate with a to Saab competing company.

"I'm disappointed and surprised about the Norwegian Governments decision, because Gripen fulfills all the operational requirements, to a fixed and known price. In addition to this, we have offered a wide and strong industrial cooperation package," says Saab CEO Ake Svensson.

"Gripen is a very competitive combat aircraft on the international market and we will now continue to focus on all the other countries were procurement processes are ongoing and Gripen is an alternative," says Svensson.

The Norwegian Government's procurement of new fighters to replace the current F-16 fleet was initiated in 2005. During the last months two offers have been compared, one for the American Joint Strike Fighter and one for Gripen.

Source : Saab - click here for more information