Sweden has contracted German company Grob Aircraft SE to deliver three more SK 40 training planes for the armed forces.
The platforms will add to Stockholm’s 10 existing SK 40s procured in 2021 to update its aircrew’s flight skills against modern threats and replace the SK 60, also known as the Saab 105, which has been in service since the 1960s.
The latest procurement includes spare engines, related training solutions, and planning tools in addition to the aircraft.
The new planes are set to arrive between December 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.
Grob’s SK 40 Aircraft
The SK 40, also called the G 120TP, is a two-seater aircraft with a length of 8 meters (26 feet) and a wingspan of 10 meters (33 feet).
The aircraft has a total weight of 1,095 kilograms (2,414 pounds) and a maximum fuel capacity of about 360 liters (95 gallons).
It is powered by five-bladed MU propellers and a 456-horsepower Rolls-Royce M250 engine for a maximum altitude of up to 7,600 meters (24,934 feet), a top speed of 245 knots (454 kilometers/282 miles per hour), and a range of 580 nautical miles (1,074 kilometers).
Sweden’s Latest Defense Aircraft Projects
Sweden invested $240 million in June 2024 to provide a third Saab GlobalEye spy plane for the air force, expanding the service’s dominance over “potential threats in the air, at sea, or on land.”
A month earlier, the US State Department greenlighted a foreign military sale of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for the Nordic country.
In April, Stockholm awarded Saab a $50-million contract to upgrade the government’s existing Gripen fighter jets and supply associated simulator equipment. Simultaneously, the company accepted a project to explore concepts of manned-unmanned aircraft teaming for the armed forces.