Last month, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine interviewed Saab’s CEO, Micael Johansson, about the company’s programs in general and, in particular, its efforts in the German market.
Saab AB is a notable defence original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in that its platform offerings are more the result of original design and integration work than of indigenous sourcing. In fact, at times, one can use Saab AB and Sweden interchangeably, as the OEM operates solely on the basis of its country’s core industrial strengths and a pragmatic supply-chain sourcing approach.
The methodology is grounded in the reality that Sweden cannot develop and/or feasibly scale all the inputs required for a complex defence platform, such as a fighter aircraft.
For example, if it attempted to develop the turbofan engine, flight control systems, alloys, electronics, and all munitions from scratch, indigenously, the best-case outcome would be a high-cost product that it could not amortize because it would never generate sufficient orders.
Hence, over the decades, Sweden – or Saab AB – gradually shifted its focus to becoming a strong, if not among the world’s strongest, integrator.
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