DEFENCE CONNECT: Industry: 18th July 2024 : Robert Dougherty
Saab Australia has announced plans to more than double its office facilities in Western Australia to push forward with national growth. The subsidiary of Swedish company Saab AB has stated it will expand offices in Rockingham to enable continued workforce growth to support naval shipbuilding and sustainment in Western Australia. The expansion allows accommodation of employees who will work on Naval Combat Systems projects and supports Saab’s West Australian workforce to grow towards 100 people.
The WA expansion continues Saab’s strong growth across Australia, which has included opening new facilities in Queensland, Victoria, and the ACT in recent years. “Saab has been delivering combat systems integration, sustainment and maintenance in Western Australia for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) since 2001 and looks forward to continuing this partnership,” said Andy Keough CSC, managing director of Saab Australia. “We are committed to continuing to grow our specialist workforce and capabilities where the Commonwealth needs us to deliver their strategic priorities.”
The Sweden-headquartered defence and security company already designs, manufactures and maintains advanced systems in aeronautics, weapons, command and control, sensors and underwater systems Saab is the sovereign combat management system provider for the Royal Australian Navy surface fleet and employs more than 1,000 people at sites across Australia.
Late last year, Saab Australia announced a formal partnership with US autonomous systems and undersea warfare company ThayerMahan to explore avenues to expand and enhance Australia’s sovereign undersea warfare capabilities.
ThayerMahan conducts undersea operations and engineering that harnesses acoustic and oceanographic science to design and develop modern sensors, platforms, and algorithmic solutions. Keough said the demand for undersea surveillance systems in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region had grown significantly in recent years. “The partnership brings together Saab’s sovereign system integration expertise and autonomous maritime capabilities with ThayerMahan’s world-leading autonomous underwater surveillance technology,” Keogh said at the time.
“This is an exciting partnership that will accelerate the integration of proven robotic and autonomous systems with surveillance capabilities that enable persistent underwater surveillance to protect Australia’s seas, underwater assets, and borders.”