Saab has received four orders from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, FMV, for Gripen development, support and maintenance through 2016. The orders entails an initial order of SEK 3.6 billion plus options for additional orders amounting to a maximum of SEK 2 billion until December 2016. (Total approx. equal to US $809.6M including options.)
The agreement includes several parts: A performance-based support and maintenance solution, performance-based logistics as well associated ground resources for upkeep. Also included is an addition to Gripen development package (MS20) as well as studies and definition activities for further Gripen development.
“Gripen has already proven its growth potential by carrying out different mission task that it was not initially intended for, like last summer’s operation Unified Protector in Libya,” says Lennart Sindahl, head of Saab’s business area Aeronautics. “It is therefore important for the future that we can continue to add new capabilities by request from FMV to a flight system that has already proven to be of world class today.”
Performance-based logistics entails that Saab provides guaranteed service times for systems and subsystems that are included in Gripen. Activities included in the contract are for example, supplying the Swedish Armed Forces with spare parts, maintenance of aircraft systems, technical engineering support, technical publications and logistics solutions for operation of the Gripen system in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Thailand. Saab has previously had several different support agreements for Gripen, all of which are now replaced by this long-term contract.
“This long-term contract enables Saab to conduct support operations in a more effective manner, compared to previous agreements,” says Lars-Erik Wige, head of Saab’s Support and Services business area. “Efficiency and availability are key words.”
The orders that are placed under the options included in the agreement will be placed once a year. The options encompass support and maintenance operations that are decisive to running aviation operations with Gripen, such as technical publications and repairs.
The work will mainly take place at Saab’s facilities in Linköping, Arboga, Järfälla and Gothenburg, Sweden.
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