Saab Technologies Australia (STA) began as a single contract company with just three people operating out of a small office in Adelaide. Two decades later, it is one of Australia’s top defence firms, involved in some of Australia’s most advanced defence projects and employing nearly 400 people.

Australian Operation Name Changes

1988

Bofors Electronics Pacific (BEPAC)

1991

Nobel Tech Australia

1993

CelsiusTech Australia

2000

Saab Systems

2009

Saab Technologies Australia

Close the history of the Saab logo

When Saab AB, which originally was an acronym for "Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget", was founded in 1937, its primary aim was to meet the need for a domestic military aircraft industry in Sweden.

After world war two the demand for military aircraft was decreasing and the engineers started to develop a car. 1947 the first Saab car, Saab 92, was ready to be shown. The car was aerodynamically built because of the engineering background from military aircraft. Also, not common was that the car had front-wheel drive. 

Today, the brand Saab is being used by two parties - Saab AB and Saab Automobile AB.

The company began as a vision to transfer the high technology (but oddly named) 9LV naval combat management system from Sweden. The system would transform Australia’s first Australian designed class of major warships – the ANZAC class – into the backbone of the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy.

This association with technology innovation and with the ANZAC ships lives on with an enduring Alliance contract in which Saab is a lifetime partner with the Royal Australian Navy and the shipbuilder, BAE Systems. The ship class is now nearly 15 years old and is currently undergoing a complete upgrade of its combat system to meet the challenges of 21st century weapons, sensors and communications.

Along the way, Saab also devised the Battlefield Command Support System for the Australian Army which saw the integration of a wide selection of software tools provided for the planning and managing of tactical ground forces from Company to Brigade level.

Another early development was the design of a Mine Warfare Data System which enabled the planning and monitoring of mine warfare operations to clear dangerous waters of sea mines. The system was sold to Turkey, a NATO country, to become the leading mine warfare system in Europe.

As the company grew in numbers and reputation, it moved to a custom designed building in Technology Park, Adelaide enabling specialised design and testing of defence software. The key to STA’s reputation for project reliability was its simple yet sophisticated approach to software engineering and system integration -- where critical systems are developed on a ‘building block’ basis to form into reconfigurable and reliable systems.

The system allows the company to build onto existing systems, in modules which can be easily removed, upgraded and adapted without the usual industry practice of having to start all over again when a system becomes outdated or inadequate.

In its second decade, Saab added weapon systems developments including the Evolved Sea Sparrow missile and the Harpoon missile systems to ships and the RBS 70 short range air defence missile to ground forces. All of these military systems are based around advanced sensors, command and control and weapons components.

The company also saw the advantage of using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology. While the defence industry once led the way in software development, it is now often outstripped by advances in the civilian world. STA believes that harnessing that existing commercial technology can deliver operational gains and major cost savings in the defence area.

STA is a subsidiary of the giant Swedish Saab Group; one of Europe’s top ten defence and industrial companies. This enables the company to bring an array of world leading technologies to Australia. Over the years, these have included the world renowned Carl Gustaf infantry and the RBS 70 air defence missile system. The list includes the BOL air-to-air missile countermeasure for fighter aircraft, Sea Giraffe AMB radars for ships and many more high technology systems.

Another important innovation has been the creation of repair and evaluation facilities for the Army’s combat net radios. These are now located throughout Australia and are ready for rapid deployment to operational areas.

The latest project developments include the combat direction system of the Canberra class amphibious ships – a derivative of the already successful 9LV system on the ANZAC class. Saab has also achieved a reputation as a leading integrator of tactical data links which includes NATO Link 11, Link 16 and the VMF link.

All of these systems are maintain in top condition with Through Life Support services provided by Saab. Saab supports both its own equipment as well as equipment from other manufacturers.

In another move to broaden its Australian operations, Saab has commenced a civil security business which has developed products for the intelligent control of public transport, the control of electricity usage to avoid blackouts and integrated surveillance systems for high security locations like prisons.

From this background Saab looks to a future with many innovation challenges and aims to build on the skills and imagination of its staff to continue to build its family of software based systems and the span of products aimed at making a safer and more secure future for everyone.

 

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