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Sweden’s defense industry star goes global Saab’s defense, aviation and space division – now completely separate from the General Motors-owned auto manufacturer – has solidified itself as one of the world’s leading high-technology companies. It has now expanded beyond its domestic base to become a leading world supplier of defense technology.
The Swedish military’s needs helped drive forward Saab’s technological innovation for decades. The country’s defense reflects the high technological level of its domestic industries and the nation as a whole, and its relation with Saab has always been geared towards developing systems of the highest international class. Delivering to the needs of all parts of Sweden’s military has thus greatly contributed to Saab’s ability to develop complete systems solutions. “We can integrate what we already have into a common network interconnecting different systems already in place with new elements like the Gripen aircraft, the submarines and the frigates. Sometimes we also see the development of new capabilities,” says President and CEO Åke Svensson. “For example, how can a soldier be connected to this information platform? That’s one challenge that we are working on. Just imagine, on the ground, you can get information directly from the aircraft. This is the sort of information awareness that clients look for – knowing what is happening, understanding the situation and having the resources to do something about it,” he adds. Saab’s expertise from serving Sweden’s military has led it to increasingly offering its technologies on the international market. Svensson comments: “Last year we had a 50-50 division of sales between domestic and export, but the order intake was more like 75 percent for export and 25 percent for domestic, so we are really changing into an international company and going into the international marketplace.” Saab has taken the lead in the development of network-centric technologies applied to defense systems. Its expertise in this area grew in part from the development of technologies surrounding the Gripen fighter plane. This technology now links everyone from foot soldier s to offshore ships and fighter planes to the command center. The results are that Saab is continuously gaining ground through new contracts. The U.S. Special Operations Command chose Saab to supply it with weapons and ammunition for its anti-tank Carl Gustav missile system. Saab’s jointly owned partnership in Saab Ericsson Space also won the contract to create the signal generators for the Galileo satellite positioning system. Outside the military, Saab has been contracted to create the mid and outer fixed leading wing edge of what will be the world’s largest passenger aircraft – the Airbus A380 – in a contract worth $1 billion over the next 20 years. |
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Ake Svensson, president and CEO of Saab