Saab reports new military orders

LINKOPING, Sweden, Dec. 27 (UPI)

Swedish defense and security company Saab recently received two orders worth a combined total $36.7 million.

The first, from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration, is for continuous support of the operational capacity of the Gripen jet fighter.

Gripen is a single-engine, multi-role aircraft. It comes in four variants and is used by Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Thailand and South Africa. It has a maximum speed of 1,372 mph at altitude.

Saab said that under the order from the Swedish agency, it will provide technical support, product maintenance, flight testing and simulator operations.

The second award was a contract extension to supply ammunition to an unidentified customer of its Carl-Gustaf M3 recoilless rifle system.

Delivery of the ammunition will start late next year, Saab said.

The M3 is a man portable, shoulder-fired weapon for anti-personnel as well as anti-armor use. The first prototype was developed in 1946. Production models have regularly been updated since then.

The weapon fires 84mm rifled rounds.

"We are very proud of the confidence our customer places in the Carl-Gustaf system and satisfied to have been able to secure an additional order for the system." says Tomas Samuelsson, head of business area, Dynamics.