Not to be left behind by other modern European aircraft like the Rafale and the Eurofighter, the Saab 39 Gripen (Griffin) is Sweden's latest entry in the multi-role fighter category, destined to replace the ageing Viggens still in service. Like its aforementioned contemporaries, the JAS 39 is a cropped-delta wing single-seat fighter with canard foreplanes and heavy use of composite materials in the fuselage. It is controlled by a digital fly-by-wire system and has a modern cockpit featuring a HUD and three LCD displays while its avionics suite includes a multi-mode pulse-Doppler radar, FLIR, ECM, and advanced nav/com systems. Widely flaunted as the world's first next generation fighter, the JAS 39's advanced design and cheap operation will likely make it an excellent candidate for export in spite of grueling competition by other similar aircraft such as the F-16, Rafale and Su-27 in the international marketplace. However, with the assistance of the UK's BAE Systems, export versions will be updated to NATO weaponry standards; customers so far have been the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Africa.

The first flight of the prototype JAS 39A was on 9 December 1988, this same designation is applied to the initial single-seat production variants. A two-seat trainer is known as the JAS 39B. Further improvements involve making new build and upgrading existing aircraft to JAS 39C (single-seat) and JAS 39D (trainer) standards which would feature, among other things, a helmet mounted sight, phased-array radar and IRST.