Sweden’s Saab AB has formally proposed localising production of Gripen E fighter jet components at Portugal’s OGMA aerospace facility in Alverca, marking the most significant Nordic-Iberian defense industrial partnership in decades. The proposal, confirmed by Daniel Boestad, Vice President and Head of the Gripen Business Unit at Saab, would see the Swedish defense giant partner with both OGMA—Portugal’s state-linked aerospace maintenance and manufacturing company—and Critical Software, a Portuguese technology firm, to build parts of the next-generation fighter directly on Portuguese soil.
The partnership proposal follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 2025, when Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson visited Portugal and witnessed the signing between Saab, OGMA, and Critical Software. The MoU outlines a framework similar to the industrial cooperation agreement Saab previously established with Brazil’s Embraer for Gripen production at Gavião Peixoto. Under that model, the host country receives substantial technology transfer, component manufacturing responsibility, and long-term maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) contracts that sustain thousands of aerospace jobs for decades.
Portugal is currently evaluating options to replace its ageing fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons, which have served the Portuguese Air Force since 1994. The procurement process, expected to formalise in 2026–27, is widely seen as a contest between the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II and the Saab Gripen E. While the F-35 remains the frontrunner in NATO interoperability terms, Saab’s industrial offset proposition is fundamentally different: rather than purchasing a finished aircraft from a US production line, Portugal would become an active participant in the Gripen manufacturing network, integrating OGMA’s existing composite structures, aerostructures, and MRO capabilities into the multinational supply chain that already links Sweden and Brazil.
The economic implications for the Nordic-Iberian corridor are substantial. OGMA, headquartered in Alverca do Ribatejo north of Lisbon, employs approximately 2,200 workers and has established capabilities in aircraft maintenance for both military and commercial fleets, including Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, Embraer regional jets, and Rolls-Royce engine servicing. Integrating Gripen component production would require capital investment in new tooling, advanced manufacturing lines, and workforce training—expenditures that would flow directly into Portugal’s aerospace industrial base. In Brazil, the equivalent arrangement generated an estimated 10,000 direct and indirect jobs over the programme’s lifecycle, with Embraer producing structural assemblies, landing gear components, and conducting final assembly of Brazilian Air Force Gripen F variants.
Critical Software, based in Coimbra, would participate in aviation software systems and flight-critical embedded software development. The company already holds EASA and DO-178C certifications and has delivered mission-critical software for the European Space Agency, Airbus, and Boeing. Integrating Critical Software into the Gripen programme would strengthen Portugal’s position in the high-value aerospace software segment—a sector where Nordic-Portuguese collaboration has been limited but where demand is accelerating rapidly as defense programmes shift toward software-defined aircraft architectures.
Saab is currently targeting an assembly rate of up to 36 Gripen E/F aircraft per year, with potential expansion beyond that level as international orders materialise. Sweden, Brazil, and Hungary are current operators, while Colombia, the Philippines, and several other nations are evaluating the aircraft. Portugal’s requirement for approximately 27–28 aircraft would represent a meaningful production run, but the strategic value of the Portuguese partnership extends beyond unit deliveries: OGMA’s geographic position at the Atlantic edge of Europe, combined with existing relationships with NATO air forces, would make it a natural MRO hub for Gripen operators in Southern Europe, Africa, and South America.
The geopolitical dimension is difficult to ignore. Portugal’s fighter procurement decision arrives amid a fundamental realignment of European defense postures following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NATO allies are increasing defense spending toward and beyond the 2% GDP target, and European governments are under growing pressure to develop and procure European-made defense systems rather than defaulting to American platforms. Sweden’s recent NATO accession in March 2024 has further strengthened Stockholm’s hand in marketing the Gripen as a fully NATO-compatible, European-designed fighter that reduces strategic dependence on US defense supply chains—a message that resonates with policymakers concerned about the unpredictability of transatlantic relations under successive US administrations.
For Nordic companies already operating in Portugal, the Saab-OGMA partnership represents a potential catalyst for broader aerospace and defense supply chain development. Sweden’s defense industrial ecosystem includes hundreds of specialised component manufacturers, systems integrators, and engineering service providers that would require local Portuguese partners if Gripen production were to establish a meaningful footprint at OGMA. This cascading supply chain effect—proven in Brazil, where more than 50 Brazilian firms now participate in the Gripen programme—could draw Swedish and broader Nordic tier-two and tier-three defense suppliers into the Portuguese market, deepening the Nordic-Iberian industrial corridor in a sector where integration has historically been minimal.
The decision remains Portugal’s to make, and the F-35’s stealth capabilities, sensor fusion, and dominant NATO adoption trajectory present a formidable competing case. But Saab’s offer fundamentally changes the terms of the procurement debate from a simple aircraft acquisition into a broader industrial strategy question: does Portugal want to buy a fighter, or does it want to build one? The answer will shape Nordic-Iberian defense ties—and OGMA’s strategic trajectory—for the next three decades.