At approximately 1:45 p.m., as scheduled, pilot Major Vitor Luis Martins Faria, 37, leaves the restricted and controlled access unit to carry out final procedures. About 40 minutes later, he took off in a supersonic jet registered FAB 4108, making three low passes and spins that echoed over the savannah before disappearing over the horizon on a training mission that lasted just over an hour.
The aircraft is one of 11 units already delivered to Brazil as part of a batch of 36 F-39 Gripen fighters acquired from Sweden’s Saab. They are all under the responsibility of the 1st Jaguar Group GDA (Group Air Defense), headquartered at BAAN (Annapolis Air Base), in Goiás.
On November 13, Bound It followed – for the first time since the Gripen arrived in the country in 2022 – the entire pilot preparation process until take-off.
Opened in 1972 to house the first supersonic fighters to equip the Brazilian Air Force, the French Dassault Mirage III, the base was designed to protect the heart of the country.
Rural Annapolis is just five minutes from Brasilia on a Gripen flight, capable of reaching 2,400 kilometers per hour, twice the speed of sound.
Because of the new fighters, the air base had to undergo renovations. Only the exterior walls remain from the 1970s building.
“Everything has been modified, mainly for security reasons and to protect state secrets and national defense information,” says Pilot Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Forñas, 43, 1st GDA commander.
The reporter had access to a controlled suite, called a black box, monitored by video and audio, where no recording device could be carried.
In this core, tactical exercises, mission analyzes and advanced training, among others, are planned.
There are two simulators in operation, installed in separate rooms and surrounded by cameras.
During the visit, a pilot was trained under the supervision of a Swedish technician from Saab, who followed the data and images displayed in an environment that mixes virtual and real elements.
There is also a room equipped with a computer, a joystick, and an electric winch similar to that found in an airplane, which is used for learning.
From January onwards, the local routine will be intensified with the arrival of four new pilots to the squadron, which currently has 13 pilots, only one of whom was not trained in Sweden and was trained entirely in Annapolis – which will be repeated with the new arrivals.
“(In January 2024) we received an F-5 pilot (the American fighter that will be replaced by the Gripen) who is not going to Sweden. This is asking a lot from the GDA,” Fornias says.
To get to the Gripen, a pilot needs to gain experience in other FAF fighters. According to the leader, the competition between suitable candidates is 1 to 10.
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In total, the group includes about 50 specialists, including technicians and mechanics trained to operate the advanced Gripen systems, which is considered the most technologically advanced fighter ever integrated by the Brazilian Air Force.
It was necessary to rebuild the maintenance hangar to meet program specifications.
With the exception of a replica of a 2002 Mirage 3, a nod to the 30 years of the air base, and a real cockpit cut from one of this same aircraft, the collection practically only breathes the new star of Brazilian fighter aviation.
There are Gripen references everywhere. In the entrance hall there is a large poster of the aircraft on the back wall next to the commander’s gallery.
In the entertainment space there is a replica hanging from the ceiling and pictures scattered everywhere, not to mention the miniatures in the commander’s room.
In a kind of small shop, all the souvenirs sold refer to the Swedish fighter, from T-shirts to key chains and buttons, among other things, products that are very popular at the traditional Air Sunday in Annapolis, which in 2025 will not be held, as in other air bases of the country, due to restraint by the armed forces.
On the day that Bound I went to Annapolis, and dozens of civilian police officers visited the place.
In one of the aisles is a drawing of the plane with the phrase “F-39 Gripen Brasil – Leading Change” captioned.
This corridor leads to the GDA’s Physical Training Academy, which was created to prepare pilots to withstand G-forces of up to 9G – nearly twice what Formula 1 pilots face. “There is no aircraft with a greater G-load,” says Fornias.
“In order to fly these planes you have to be qualified,” he says of the qualification carried out in Sweden to counter the force of gravity.
Before the flight, Major Martins underwent equipment pressure checks, including an oxygen mask check. He also went to a place called “Casa di Besta” where he obtained confirmation of the prepared plane and the reservation.
He then placed the Gripen’s special equipment in the changing room where each pilot’s clothing and helmets were separated.
The visor of the helmet is protected by a cover until boarding. Like a kind of screen, it reproduces information from the fighter’s computer to the officer’s eyes when he turns around.
After the pressure test, the flight officer goes to the indicated aircraft – Gripen aircraft located in individual hangars, which the report did not allow to record photographs of the site, as well as several base facilities, for reasons of military secrecy.
During the visit there were ten aircraft in Annapolis, four of them in individual hangars and the rest under maintenance. Coming from Sweden by ship, the 11th will arrive the next day.
Before finally taxiing to the runway and taking off, Major Martinez conducted a check of the aircraft’s components that took just over 30 minutes, most of it while running the engine with the assistance of Sergeant Asaf Gonsalves Ferreira.
The reporter went to Annapolis Air Force Base on the eve of four fighters flying for three weeks of training in Natal. As I expected BoundFor the first time, they will conduct training exercises by launching long-range missiles, which was confirmed last Friday (27).
The Brazilian program expects 36 Gripen aircraft, 8 of which are two-seat aircraft – dubbed E and F, respectively.
The first aircraft to be produced at Embraer’s unit in Gavião Peixoto (SP) should be ready this year, as part of a technology transfer program – the Brazilian manufacturer is a partner of Saab. However, it should be delivered to the Air Force only in 2026.