Patrick Durrant | Sydney

Saab Australia conducted a defence industry briefing in Sydney on Wednesday where it mapped out the company's plans for defence programs both current and future, domestic and international.

The company's head of industry engagement Matt Opie opened proceedings providing a background of Saab's pedigree in defence and the company stats.

"We provide everything between the Saab Gripen aircraft to the A26 submarine, but I'm sorry I can't give you a discount on a Saab 900 series cabriolet turbo because we sold the car business to General Motors 20 years ago," he joked.

"We will not buy something from overseas if we can buy a comparable quality, value for money product in Australia."

While globally Saab's maritime or naval busines makes up 15 per cent of the total sales revenue, in Australia this translates to 75 per cent.

Opie said Saab was particularly proud of its re-investment of 25 per cent of its sales into R&D, an industry high which was replicated in Australia.

"Today we are the Australian indigenous combat system integrator, and we've proven how to develop sovereign industrial capability over the last thirty years," Opie said.

He stressed that Saab would, as far as product was concerned, source the best value for money product and commodities that it could find in Australia.

There followed a brief snapshot on the various projects Saab was either delivering or pursuing as prospects. Opie wasn't going to divulge on the strategies being pursued by the company "so if you've come for a bit of market intel, I hope you got a free croissant".

However business development manager Suzanne Birch and Maritime Systems program manager Geoff Stephens did go through the company's plans for the various projects and the associated industry opportunities, namely:

Warship Asset Management Agreement (WAMA)
Sea 1448 Phase 4B (upgrade of SPS-49 radars to CEAFAR)
ISCMMS (Collins manouevering system)
Sea 1654 Phase 3
Thai new frigate
Sea 5000
Sea 1180 (scaled down 9LV Combat System)
Canadian Surface Combatant (if successful as a CSI candidate, would be the largest Australian defence export ever)
Unmanned/Autonomous projects (Bonefish)
Mixed Reality Apps (Hololens)

Of particular interest was the company's intention to compete for the Combat System Integrator (CSI) contract in the Canadian Surface Combatant program. Canada intends to build 15 naval platforms, consisting of three air warfare destroyers and 12 frigates, and BDM Suzanne Birch said there would be opportunities for Australian industry to procure work on this program should Saab be successful in its bid.

Saab Australia has launched the company's industry portal, where companies can register to be an approved supplier or technology partner. Opie said once audited, selected partners could hope to enjoy a "world of opportunity" including:

Dedicated Saab Account Manager
Saab site visit & company brief
CEO round-table
Training – introduction to defence; ASDEFCON; dealing with a Prime
Access to other key partners
Quarterly newsletter – contracts, RFQs, news etc.
Pre-approved Ts&Cs
Pre-approved labour rates
Access to Trade Delegations to Asia and Europe
Access to opportunities worldwide via the Saab Global Supply Chain

The company was happy to offer Defence 101 training for those SMEs that weren't used to dealing with Defence.

In terms of access to the Global Supply Chain, Opie said the company would endeavour to take partners on trade delegations to the Asia Pacific and Europe, where they would have the opportunity to brief Saab business units on their capability, while conversely the business units could brief the partners on the opportunities that existed in their areas of expertise.

"We're not asking them to give you contracts or any preference, we're asking them to listen to your capability and potentially give you an RFQ which would allow you to compete on your own merits," Opie said.