Saab AB (originally , later just SAAB and Saab Group) is a Swedish

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and ast ...

and defence company, founded in 1937. Headquartered in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, the development and the manufacturing is undertaken in

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

. Saab produced automobiles from 1947 until 1990 when the automobile division was spun off as

Saab Automobile Saab Automobile AB () is a defunct car manufacturer that was founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, Saab AB, began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in 1949. In 1968 the p ...

, a joint venture with

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

. The joint venture ended in 2000 when GM took complete ownership. From 1968 onwards the company was in a merger with

commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to t ...

manufacturer Scania-Vabis, known as Saab-Scania. The two were de-merged in 1995 by the new owners, Investor AB. Despite the demerger, both Saab and

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...

share the right to use the

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon ( Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and ...

logo, which originates from the coat of arms of the Swedish region of

History

"Svenska Aeroplan

AktieBolag ''Aktiebolag'' (, " stock company") is the Swedish term for "limited company" or "corporation". When used in company names, it is abbreviated AB (in Sweden), Ab (in Finland), or, rarely, A/B (dated), roughly equivalent to the abbreviations '' Lt ...

" (Swedish for "Swedish Aeroplane Company Limited") (SAAB) was founded in 1937 in

Trollhättan Trollhättan () is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It is situated by Göta älv, near the lake Vänern, and has a population of approximately 50,000 in the city proper. It is loc ...

, with the merger of

Svenska Aero Svenska Aero AB (full name: Svenska Aero Aktiebolaget, , abbr. SA) was a Swedish aircraft manufacturer on Hästholmen in Lidingö. The company was founded September 10, 1921, to license build Caspar-Werke and Heinkel aircraft. The company was b ...

AB (SAAB) and

based ASJA the headquarters moved to Linköping. The style "Saab" replaced "SAAB" around 1950. The basic initial development was the problems for the

Swedish government The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden ( sv, Konungariket Sveriges regering) is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Ministerappointed and dismissed by the Speaker of th ...

to get quality

military aircraft A military aircraft is any Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are ...

delivered at the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The final trigger was the inability to get a large number of Seversky P-35 delivered from the United States. From then on the Swedish government focused on establishing domestic production and development of military aircraft which Saab became involved in, a policy that has continued to this day. Originally manufacturing aircraft, the company sought ways in which to diversify its business. Before the Second World War, a majority of cars in Sweden were imported from the United States. The US car manufacturers have been producing

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

s during the war, and the US domestic market took all the US car production in the late 1940s. Hence there was a large supply shortage of private cars in Europe and Sweden, and buyers were facing waiting lists of years on new cars. In the late 1940s, Saab began manufacturing cars at its

division, based in Trollhättan. The first car was the Saab 92; full-scale production started 12 December 1949, based on the prototype Ursaab. In the late 1950s Saab ventured into the computer market with Datasaab. The company was a result partly of the need to make a computer that would be small enough to mount in an aeroplane as navigational equipment. During the 1960s several computers were developed and sold to European countries, for uses such as banking. The aircraft computer (CK 37) was used in 1971 in the Viggen. The company was sold in 1975 to Sperry UNIVAC, while Saab retained its flight computer development. In May 1965, the company name was changed to Saab AB to reflect its broad range of activities. In 1968 Saab AB merged with the Swedish lorry, bus and heavy-duty

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

manufacturer Scania-Vabis, and became Saab-Scania AB. In 1990

bought 51% of the car division

, and acquired the rest a decade later. In 1991 Investor AB completed a leveraged buyout of Saab-Scania AB. Investor AB acquired all the outstanding shares in Saab-Scania for approximately SEK 21 billion. Saab-Scania became a wholly owned subsidiary of Investor AB and the company was de-listed. In 1995 Saab-Scania was divided by Investor AB into two independent companies, de-merging into Scania AB and Saab AB. The intention by Investor AB was to broaden ownership in the two companies later. Following the sale of 50% of the car division Saab Automobile AB to General Motors, the main reason behind the merger with lorry manufacturer Scania-Vabis in 1968 had disappeared. Also in 1995 Saab Military Aircraft and

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

(now

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenue ...

) formed the joint venture company Saab-BAe Gripen AB, to manufacture, market and support Gripen internationally. This co-operation was extended in 2001 with the formation of Gripen International for the same purpose. From 1998 until 2005 British Aerospace/BAE was the largest shareholder in Saab following its acquisition of a 35% stake from Investor AB. In January 2005, BAE Systems reduced its shareholding to 20%. Investor AB maintained a 20% share. 16 November 1999, Saab announced its intention is to purchase Celsius AB and the acquisition was concluded by early March 2000. In September 2000 United Defense Industries (UDI) purchased Bofors Weapon Systems from Saab (the

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bul ...

and tube

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

interests), while Saab retained the

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...

interests. In December 2005 Saab joined the Dassault nEUROn project as a major partner. In October 2008 the company announced its intention to merge its operations with that of Simrad Optronics. The new unit will develop high-tech

optronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radiat ...

products and will be headquartered in Norway, although other details of the new arrangement have not been finalized. In 2010 the company restructured from fifteen business units into five business areas; Aeronautics, Dynamics, Electronic Defence Systems, Security and Defence Solutions, and Support and Services. According to Saab the restructuring was undertaken to become more market and customer oriented. In March 2010, BAE Systems sold half of its 20% stake in the company to Investor AB, which then became the major shareholder. In June 2011, the British company sold its remaining stake bringing its 16-year involvement in Saab to an end. As of August 2020, Investor AB owns a 30.16% stake in the company (39.69% of the voting rights) and is the top owner.

Aircraft production

The main focus of aircraft production is

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

. Saab has been making aircraft since the 1930s, and the jet predecessors of the

JAS 39 Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (; English: ''griffin'') is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stabilit ...

were the Tunnan, the Lansen, the Draken and the Viggen. The last civilian models made by Saab were the Saab 340 and

Saab 2000 The Saab 2000 is a twin-engined high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It is designed to carry 50–58 passengers and cruise at a speed of . Production took place in Linköping in southern Sweden. The Sa ...

. Both were mid-range

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

-powered airliners. The development and the manufacturing of these aircraft is undertaken in

. In May 2019, Saab announced plans to locate a new U.S. manufacturing operation in Discovery Park District Aerospace on the west side of the

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

campus. The facility will do the final assembly of the

T-X The T-X (referred to as the Terminatrix in some appearances until other terminatrix (female terminators) appeared) is the name of a fictional cyborg assassin who appears in the ''Terminator'' franchise. The T-X model is a gynoid assassin and ...

advanced jet trainer, which is a plane developed by

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

and Saab for the United States Air Force.

Organization

Aeronautics

Aeronautics offers airborne systems, related subsystems, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and aerostructures. The business area Aeronautics is responsible for airframe structures for

, and whole sections for

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

and NH90; & system development of the JAS 39 Gripen and the Skeldar VTOL UAV. Aeronautics is also partner in the European joint UAV-project Dassault nEUROn, where Saab develop Avionics and is responsible for the overall architecture and design. Marketing and support of the

fighter jet is also included in the Aeronautics business area.

Dynamics

Dynamics offers ground combat weapons, missile systems, torpedoes, sensor systems, unmanned underwater vehicles such as ''Sabertooth'' and signature management systems, remotely operated vehicles for armed forces as well as civil security applications. Short range weapons offered include Carl-Gustaf, AT4/AT4 CS, STRIX and

NLAW The Saab Bofors Dynamics NLAW (pronounced: ''"N-LAW"'', ), also known as the MBT LAW or RB 57, is a fire-and-forget, lightweight shoulder-fired, and disposable (single-use) line of sight (LOS) missile system, designed for infantry use. The ...

. Missile systems offered are RBS 70,

RBS 23 The RBS 23, designated BAMSE (Bofors Advanced Missile System Evaluation), is a Swedish medium range, all-weather capable air defense system developed by Bofors and Ericsson Microwave Systems (now both in the Saab group). BAMSE is designed for p ...

and

RBS 15 The RBS 15 (Robotsystem 15) is a long-range fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile. The later version Mk. III has the ability to attack land targets as well. The missile was developed by the Swedish company Saab ...

Surveillance

Surveillance offers airborne surveillance solutions (including GlobalEye, Saab 2000 Erieye) AEW&C and fighter radar, ground-based and naval radar (including the

Giraffe radar The Saab (formerly Ericsson Microwave Systems AB) Giraffe Radar is a family of land and naval two- or three-dimensional G/H-band (4 to 8 GHz) passive electronically scanned array radar-based surveillance and air defense command and contr ...

range), electronic warfare (including IDAS and ESTL) and combat systems and C4I solutions.

Industrial Products and Services

Industrial Products and Services was established on 1 January 2015 and comprises the business units Combitech, Avionics Systems, Aerostructures, Traffic Management, Vricon as well as the development of product ideas that fall outside of Saab's core business. The business units within Industrial Products and Services differ from Saab's other operations by their focus on business-to-business (B2B) customers or because they are not dependent on Saab's principal end-customers. Other business areas within Saab have a customer base largely consisting of public authorities. With different customer groups come different management strategies and priorities. Opportunities to strengthen these operations in the long term are greater in the new organisation. Industrial Products and Services will work with individual growth strategies for each business unit.

Support and Services

Support and Services offer maintenance, integrated support solutions, field facilities, logistics and regional aircraft maintenance. Saab Aircraft Leasing leases and resells Saab aircraft to airlines. It completed 30 transactions in 2010.

Saab Barracuda LLC

The Saab Barracuda LLC facility in Lillington, North Carolina, manufactures

signature management Stealth technology, also termed low observable technology (LO technology), is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive and active electronic countermeasures, which covers a range of methods used to make personnel, aircraft, ships, subma ...

products and provides customized services. Foremost among the

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

, concealment and deception products is the Ultra Lightweight Camouflage Net System (ULCANS) which provides multi-spectral protection against visual, near infrared, thermal infrared and broadband radar detection. ULCANS is fielded with the U.S. Army and other

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

organizations and is available in both woodland and desert versions. Saab Barracuda is one of only two qualified suppliers of ULCANS in North America, and currently has a competed $US1.76 billion contract, along with GMA Cover Corp.

Saab Kockums

Submarine division Kockums acquisition.

Products

Military aircraft

Saab 17 The Saab 17 is a Swedish single-engine monoplane reconnaissance dive-bomber aircraft of the 1940s originally developed by ASJA prior to its merger into Saab. It was the first all-metal stressed skin aircraft developed in Sweden. Design and de ...

(bomber/ dive-bomber: manufactured 1941–1944, 323 built) * Saab 18 (twin-engine bomber and reconnaissance aircraft: manufactured 1944–1948, 245 built) * Saab 21 (twin-boom push-prop fighter/attack aircraft: manufactured 1945–1949, 298 built) * Saab 21R (jet-powered version of Saab 21: manufactured 1950–1952, 64 built) * Saab 29 Tunnan (first purpose-built jet fighter: manufactured 1950–1956, 661 built) * Saab 32 Lansen (attack aircraft: manufactured 1953–1959, 450 built) *

Saab 35 Draken The Saab 35 Draken (; 'The Kite' or 'The Dragon') is a Swedish fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget ( SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of the Saab 35 Draken started in 1948 as the Swedish air f ...

(fighter: manufactured 1955–1974, 644 built) * Saab 37 Viggen (fighter/attack/reconnaissance aircraft: manufactured 1970–1990, 329 built) * Saab JAS 39 Gripen (multirole fighter: introduced 1996, 306 built as of 2020) * Saab 105 (twin engine trainer: manufactured 1963–1972, 192 built) * Saab 340 AEW&C (airborne early warning and control aircraft: manufactured 1994–1999, 12 built) *

Boeing T-7 Red Hawk The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

(advanced pilot training aircraft: developed by

in partnership with Saab Group, 2 demonstrators built, 351 trainers to be purchased by the

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

) *

BAE Systems Tempest The BAE Systems Tempest is a proposed sixth-generation fighter aircraft that is under development in the United Kingdom for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft is intended to enter service from 2035, gradually replacing the Eurofighter Typ ...

(sixth generation fighter developed in partnership with BAE Systems and Leonardo)

Cancelled military aircraft projects

Saab 36 __NOTOC__ The Saab 36 (also known as Projekt 1300) was a supersonic bomber planned by Saab AB during the 1950s. The aircraft was intended to be able to carry an 800 kg free-falling nuclear weapon, but the Swedish nuclear weapons program was ...

(bomber, 1950s, none built) * Saab 38 (attack/trainer, 1970s, none built)

Civilian aircraft

* Saab 90 Scandia (32 passenger short-/medium-haul aircraft: manufactured 1946–1954, 18 built) *

Saab 91 Safir The Saab 91 Safir (Swedish for sapphire) is a three (91A, B, B-2) or four (91C, D) seater, single engine trainer aircraft. The Safir was built by Saab AB in Linköping, Sweden (203 aircraft) and by '' De Schelde'' in Dordrecht, Netherlands ( ...

(single engine trainer: manufactured 1946–1966, 323 built) * MFI-15 Safari/MFI-17 Supporter (single engine trainer: manufactured 1971 – late 70s, ca 250 built) * Saab 340 (30–35 passenger short-haul aircraft: manufactured 1983–1999, 459 built) *

(50–58 passenger high-speed turboprop airliner: manufactured 1992–1999, 63 built)

Experimental aircraft

* Saab 210 (experimental aircraft: manufactured 1952, 1 built) * Saab/Linköping University Generic Future Fighter.

Unmanned aerial vehicles

* Saab Skeldar * Swiss UAV

Missiles

RBS 56B BILL 2 The RBS 56B BILL 2 Anti-Tank Guided Weapon is a man-portable or vehicle-mounted guided anti-tank missile using the overfly top attack method to attack the weaker parts of an armoured vehicle. BILL is acronym for ''Bofors Infantry Light & Letha ...

* KEPD 350 *

RB 04 The RB-04 (Robot 04) is a long-range sea skimming fire-and-forget air-to-surface, anti-ship missile. The missile was known as the "RB-304" during development and early service years. Development While interest in guided anti-ship missiles was s ...

(anti-ship missile) *

Rb 05 The SAAB RB05 (abbreviation of Swedish: Robot 05, "Missile 05"), contemporarily named AT 3 internally, was a short-range air-to-surface missile with limited air-to-air capability that was developed in the 1960s by the Swedish company Saab-Scan ...

(air-to-surface missile) *

RBS-15 The RBS 15 (Robotsystem 15) is a long-range fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile. The later version Mk. III has the ability to attack land targets as well. The missile was developed by the Swedish company Sa ...

(surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile) * RBS-70 * Meteor BVRAAM

Naval Combat Management Systems

* 9LV Naval Combat Management System

Naval Integrated Communication Systems

* TactiCall Integrated Communication System

Naval Radar Systems

* Sea Giraffe 180 (SG180) medium air/surface RADAR

Boats

* Saalina

Gallery

File:SAAB B 18B, 01.jpg, Saab 18B (B 18B) File:Lansen 2.JPG, Saab 32 Lansen (J 32B) File:Saab 91C 01.jpg, Saab 91C (Sk 50C) File:J 29F.jpg, Saab 29 Tunnan (J 29F) File:Viggen.JPG, Saab 37 Viggen (SF 37) File:JAS Gripen.jpg, Saab Gripen (JAS 39) File:FAA Saab340.jpg, Saab 340B File:Saab340AEW&C.jpg, Saab 340 with Erieye radar File:Golden Air SE-LTX 20071020.JPG,

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Saab AB
{{Authority control * Aerospace companies of Sweden Defence companies of Sweden Gas turbine manufacturers BAE Systems Manufacturing companies established in 1937 Technology companies established in 1937 Swedish companies established in 1937 Companies related to the Wallenberg family Swedish brands Companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1937