COBI
COBI Saab JAS 39 Gripen E Set 5820
COBI's Saab JAS 39 Gripen E is a 1:48 model built from 480 blocks, 31.5 cm long, produced under licence from Saab, in Swedish Air Force colours. The cockpit opens for the pilot figure, and a display stand with a plate carrying the set name and the Swedish flag is included. All markings are printed; no stickers.
It lands on public roads
Swedish air defence doctrine assumes that in a war the country's airbases will be destroyed in the first hours. So Swedish fighters have been designed since the 1950s not to need them.
The Gripen operates from ordinary roads. Stretches of Swedish highway are built to fighter specification, with reinforced surfaces, no overhead wiring and clearings alongside for dispersal, and the aircraft needs around 600 to 800 metres to land β less than a third of a runway.
The turnaround is the remarkable part. A Gripen can be refuelled and rearmed for an air-to-air mission in about ten minutes by a team of six, five of whom are conscripts with a few months' training, working from an ordinary truck. No specialist ground equipment, no hangar, no base.
Everything else about the aircraft follows from that: single engine, simple systems, low running cost. The Gripen is deliberately not the most capable fighter available. It is the one that is still flying on day three.
The E
Developed for Sweden and Brazil: longer fuselage, greater wingspan, 22 per cent more engine power, a range of around 4,075 km, and a rebuilt cockpit and avionics suite. JAS stands for Jakt, Attack, Spaning β hunting, attack, reconnaissance β the three roles the aircraft was required to do without reconfiguration.
Specifications
Pieces: 480 Β· Figures: 1 pilot Β· Scale: 1:48 Β· Licensed by Saab Β· No stickers
Model dimensions: 31.5 Γ 20 Γ 10 cm (12.4 Γ 7.9 Γ 3.9 in)
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