Saab Sea Giraffe to protect Swedish Navy

The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) has contracted Saab to provide its Sea Giraffe 1X naval radar to the Swedish Navy.

The order will generate SEK 340 million (US$30 million) for Saab’s bottom line, and the technology is expected to be delivered between 2024–26. It will include the Sea Giraffe in a range of configurations, allowing the Swedish Navy to vary the uses to which it is put.

For the most part, those uses will be  active onboard surface ships, but there are also configurations to help train users in the Swedish Navy on the system.

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The Sea Giraffe 1X radar can simultaneously detect, track and classify objects in the air and on the surface. The software-defined radar enables updates to meet new threats and is suitable for both smaller and larger ships, as well as autonomous vessels.

Carl-Johan Bergholm, head of Saab’s surveillance business area, said the Sea Giraffe 1X would “contribute in protecting costal and littoral areas and strengthen the naval units with advanced capabilities to detect, track and classify threats in the air and on the surface”.

The Sea Giraffe agreement comes just a week after the FMV signed a similar deal with Saab, this time to supply its underwater vehicles (AUVs) for mine countermeasures (MCM) missions, further embedding the company in Sweden’s national defence infrastructure.

It also follows a deal in December in which Saab agreed to supply the US Air Force in Europe (USAFE) with its standard Giraffe 4A radar for SEK525 million.

The Giraffe 4A is a medium- to long-range multi-function radar system that can be mounted on land vehicles and uses an active electronically scanned array radar sensor, meaning that like its naval counterpart, it is effective against a diverse range of threats, including low-speed UAVs and supersonic missiles.

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Sea Giraffe 4A Fixed Face (FF)

Sea Giraffe 1X