Saab eyes APKWS guided rocket as cheaper Gripen weapon after Ukraine

Saab is exploring the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) as a lower-cost armament option for its JAS 39 Gripen fighters after studying the Ukraine war. Jussi Halmetoja, operations advisor for Saab's air domain, said at the Singapore Airshow that "the APKWS is in interest because other platforms are now integrating 70mm guided rockets.

So we are, of course, eyeing that capability now." The APKWS uses a guided version of the Hydra 70mm rocket, and Saab is looking at ways to integrate it onto both the older Gripen C and the latest Gripen E. Mikael Franzén, chief marketing officer for the Gripen program, highlighted the need for cheaper weapons to counter uncrewed aerial systems: "I mean, right now we are using very expensive weapons to kill very cheap drones." He added Saab is hoping to equip the Gripen with systems that can fit multiple munitions on a single hardpoint: "If you can have four or 10 on each hardpoint, then you can kill a lot more drones." The APKWS is typically mounted on aircraft with multilaunch pods.