They are considering buying 12 aircraft.

This is not surprising. The Gripen is about half the weight of its next smaller competitor among the 4th gen fighters, and you pretty much pay for planes by the pound (or by the kilo for you metric folks).

I think that the Gripen may very well be the Mirage III of the 4th generation fighters.

It’s small, it’s cheap, it’s designed for austere basing, and by all reports, its avionics are superb.