Early on, the Swedish Air Force had formed a commitment with Saab that, contingent upon satisfactory performance of the prototype during flight testing, that an order for at least 100 aircraft would be placed. In December 1961, the Swedish Government announced that it had authorized the Swedish Air Force to sponsor the development and manufacture of a single prototype Saab 105 in a training configuration. On 29 June 1963, this first prototype conducted its maiden flight. The flight test program soon revealed the type to have good handling qualities and to be capable of performing aerobatic maneuvers. In March 1965, a single prototype was dispatched to Turbomeca's facilities in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aquitaine, France, for further flight testing of its Turbomeca Aubisque powerplant.