Just because Gripen uses an American GE engine does not mean they are off limits. You actually have to go through the motions to try gaining US Congressional green light to know whether there would block the sales in any way. GE is a very influential American defence contractor with Congressmen in their pockets.
Countries like Thailand and South Africa are not exactly close allies of the US yet they operate the Gripens.
Look, EFT is a fantastic platform on its own but it needs to be backed up by numbers. My main concern is numbers.
Going for Hi without sorting Lo is a mistake, here's why:
The way our bureaucracy works: if takes a lot of pen pushing to get big deals through the chain. Once BAF ties up the bureaucracy with repayments for EFTs for years, the PMO, defence, finance and planning ministries will push back hard against any further deals for fighter jets in the next 10 years. The pen pushers will find ways to convince the PM to not approve any further fighter deals as defence spending is never their priority. Unlike BA and BN, BAF does not have the stomach fight it out.
1-2 squadrons of EFT is fantastic as a cherry on top if you already have 3-4 squadrons of Gripens/J-10s in service. It would be a nightmare for any air force to face EFTs conducting strike backed up by dozens of network connected Gripens/J-10s.
Again, I just hope a miracle happens and the EFT deal id quickly followed by orders for single engine fighters in good numbers.