Interestingly, the initial integration of the A-Darter onto the Gripen C and D was done as part of Project UKHOZI, the Gripen acquisition programme, between 2007 and 2012. This is because integration was included in the SAAF’s purchase agreement with Saab for the aircraft, and while integration was conducted at the SAAF’s Test Flight and Development School in Overberg it was Saab’s responsibility to ensure it happened on time and within budget. An unwanted side-effect of this parallel process was that some elements of the integration had to start without all aspects of the missile’s development completed, forcing some clever planning and reconfiguration to ensure correct results were still achieved.
Then there’s the question of why it was decided to develop the A-Darter rather than just buying an existing off-the-shelf option, like the IRIS-T already acquired as an interim weapon. After all, while R3.6 billion is cheap in comparative terms, it’s expensive when one considers that just buying 60 IRIS-Ts would’ve cost only around R500 million.
The answer, and justification, centres around a few strategic arguments.
sitten 5 eri perustetta, joista osa on Suomellekin pohtimisen arvoisia