Saab President and CEO Micael Johannson said Saab is on track to meet its annual production target of 400,000 units for all its ground combat weapons starting in 2025.
He told Breaking Defense on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that his company holds “a huge backlog” and its output is expected to increase further in 2026. The chief executive expects the gain to come from Saab’s new munitions factories in Grayling, Michigan, and Carl-Gustaf M4 shoulder-launched recoilless rifles in India.
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency is one of the recent buyers of the Carl-Gustaf M4s, with a $65.14 million order for four NATO member nations, with delivery expected to be completed by 2027.
Airborne Weapons’ Growth Prospects
“Production increase is also planned with our missile capability, short-range air defense capability and also sensor capability,” Johannson shared. In 2023, Saab opened a new Giraffe 1X air surveillance radar facility in Fareham, United Kingdom, to manufacture the sensor on a large scale.
On export prospects for Saab’s GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, Johannson expressed optimism about interest from France, Germany and NATO, and a potential pooled service with Nordic countries.
In November, Saab completed the United Arab Emirates’ fifth and final order of GlobalEye under a $1 billion deal signed in 2015.