Saab Enters Collaborative Combat Aircraft Race with High-End Concept
Saab has unveiled the A3, a supersonic, autonomous collaborative combat aircraft concept designed to complement the Gripen E fighter. The project aims to provide a high-end, survivable uncrewed platform that can operate in controlled European airspace.
Why it matters
This development signals a shift in European defense strategy toward high-performance autonomous systems that can operate alongside crewed fighters in complex, regulated environments.
Saab’s supersonic, low-observable A3 collaborative combat aircraft concept harks back to the company’s distinctive J-35 Draken with its double-delta, blended wing body configuration.
Saab has unveiled its A3 collaborative combat aircraft concept - an autonomous, tailless, supersonic, double-delta-wing air vehicle - that could be rapidly developed in the early 2030s to provide what the company describes as a "peer-capable complement" to its Gripen E. The A3 could also serve as a conceptual and technological steppingstone toward meeting Sweden's need for a future crewed combat aircraft in the 2040s.
Saab previously teased the A3 concept's almost 1960s-era, J-35 Draken-like planform but never stated its intentions for the platform.
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