Saab's fortunes on the rise

摘要

Ten years ago, Saab's aerospace division faced an uncertain future. Defence spending in Sweden was on the slide, Gripen orders had dried up and the Erieye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft was losing out to foreign rivals. One ray of light was a United Arab Emirates (UAE) order for two ex-Swedish Air Force Saab 340 AEW&Cs, but Saab seemed to be evolving into an aircraft leasing company and redundancies were being made at its Linkoeping site. The company, formed in 1937, has a legacy of 5,000 or so fighters that have rolled off its production lines, including the Saab 29, Lansen, Draken, Viggen and, more recently, the JAS 39 Gripen. Most went to the Swedish Air Force, which in the 1950s maintained 55 operational squadrons. The collapse of the USSR led to massive Swedish defence cuts, however, and Saab simply had to export to survive. In September 2010, Buskhe took over as CEO after building his reputation at E.ON's Nordic division. His only prior knowledge of the aerospace industry stemmed from his days as a Swedish Air Force weapons technician during the 1980s. He told AFM: "We did not have a big order backlog, having finalised the JAS 39C/D Gripen [with the Swedish Air Force]. Should we continue with support and services, or could we continue with a trainer and fighter for the future? Support and services is not boring but it's not the reason we started the company."