Saab Training Systems Increasing Mobile CTC Presence
CONTRACT WITH ROYAL NETHERLANDS ARMY A MAJOR ORDER, OFFICIALS SAY
Saab Training Systems has long been known for its expertise in providing specialized training systems for military forces around the world. Whether it is laser simulator systems, mobile data communication systems, combat training systems or target equipment, the business unit of Saab has cemented a place for itself as a leading supplier of training systems for the army, air force and navy. One area that the company plans on growing is its presence in the global mobile combat command center market. To that end, the company in April 2007 received a contract from the Royal Netherlands Army for the first Mobile Battalion Combat Training Centre, with deliveries beginning this year. The value of the contract to Saab is 350 MSEK ($49.8 million U.S. dollars). The contract not only allows Saab to provide an improved product to a long-time customer, but it also allows the company to expand in a growing global market of providing military forces the ability to set up mobile communications quickly. “For us, it is a major, major order, needless to say, more or less,” Johan Ohlson, president of Saab Training Systems, told MT2. “Apart from that, it also drives development on our side. At Saab Training Systems, we invest some 10 percent of the yearly turnover into our internal product development … So in parallel, we are putting part of our own money into the development needed here. And we think that this functionality then will also be important for other customers here in the years to come.” Mobile combat training centers are becoming more popular as military commanders seek more mobility on the battlefield as well as to achieve information dominance over their enemies. These centers allow military forces to set up communications quickly in areas where there is usually no infrastructure to do so as well as provide command-and-control capability for commanders on the battlefield. Other companies that offer their own types of mobile combat training centers in the United States include General Dynamic C4 Systems and NG. Saab’s CTC is a complete training center comprising communication infrastructure, exercise control center, simulators, maintenance and support, for training up to battalion level within the brigade frame. The center provides a fully integrated and optimized solution, enabling all direct fire and area weapons to be simulated, controlled and monitored within the battlefield environment. The system is modular and can be used on any scale from individual gunnery training to battalion scale force-on-force tactical exercises. The Mobile Battalion system also includes the new simulation baseline for laser simulator interoperability between European armies. The decision to award the contract to Saab follows the performance of the Mobile Combat Training Centre (MCTC), which has been operational since 1 April 2003. The first mobile CTCs were provided at a level 4, or company level, while the company will be providing mobile CTCs at a level 5, or battalion level, this time, Ohlson said. “Based on the experience that the Netherlands Army has had with the system so far, they decided to take the next step. If you look at the step they are taking, it is just not going up to level 5 or battalion level training, because they will not be doing that all of the time,” Ohlson said. “But the rest of the time, they will also now have more equipment, they can run more exercises, also parallel exercise and they can increase the total number exercises that they can do in one Saab Training Systems develops, manufactures and markets advanced military training equipment, such as laser simulator systems, instrumented training systems, target equipment, and provides services and maintenance for delivered systems. Saab has MCTCs in Holland, Norway and Finland, and smaller systems that are in use in Italy, the United States and Slovenia, Ohlson said. Improvements that have been made in the MCTCs over time is the ability to better integrate into other systems, such as different commandand- control structures, and ensuring the system can handle a larger number of players. The company is currently looking at utilizing satellites links in its MCTCs to be able to link different training areas together, he said. Regardless of the progress that has been made in its MCTCs over the years, the company will always seek to improve them to better fit its customers’ needs, Ohlson said. “We try to be at the forefront when it comes to understanding our customer’s future requirements,” he said. “And coming back to what I said at the beginning, that we are able to spend up to 10 percent of our turnover back into internal development. It gives us the opportunity to have products in the tube, so to say, that will be ready in time to meet the customer’s requirements.” ♦