Pretty heavily reducing your quotes but:
Not quite, only Sweden has proven they can do it so far, but they are not the only country with diesel electric submarines with AIP systems. At least China has something similar with the Yuan class, but we don't know its capability for sure.
A few factors at play here. The Gripen was built after the F14 F15 F16 FA18 and anecdotally learnt from those designs. Also, the Gripen has much more modern air to air missile (the AMRAAM is some 30 years old) and sensor suite.
Yes Sweden and SAAB have done a great job, but I think a major part of the problem is the number of US projects that are started and cancelled. In comparison Sweden is much more focussed on keepings the Gripen up to date, and easy software upgrades was a major part of the design.