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Saab has officially opened its expanded Australian headquarters and state-of-the-art Sovereign Combat Systems Collaboration Centre in Mawson Lakes, South Australia.
The international defence company and its partners will use the facility to undertake software development, systems integration, testing and prototyping in a bid to strengthen Australia’s sovereign defence capability. The Sovereign Combat Systems Collaboration Centre is a national asset supported by a $22.6 million grant under the Australian government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative.
It will be a fundamental input to the development of a sustainable combat systems industry that enables the timely development and deployment of capability to respond to emerging threats.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles said the Collaboration Centre will bring together a skilled workforce which, at its heart, is building a future made in Australia.
“The facility will have a primary focus on software development, systems integration, testing and prototyping of our combat systems, which are critical to delivering a more capable, integrated and focused Defence Force,” Deputy Prime Minister Marles said.
“Saab has been a leader in Australian combat systems capability for more than three decades and we have made this long-term investment in partnership with the Commonwealth to drive that into the future,” Saab Australia managing director Andy Keough CSC said.
“The Collaboration Centre will be a hub for Saab, our industry and research partners, and Defence, to develop and integrate combat system capabilities at speed to meet the ADF’s operational requirements.
“A core component of ongoing sovereign combat systems capability development is the AusCMS – Australia’s sovereign combat management system.”
The sovereign AusCMS enables the Royal Australian Navy to independently adapt their capabilities through the adoption of evolving and disruptive technologies to meet the continually changing and challenging operational context.
AusCMS is a common capability across the RAN surface fleet and will form the Australian interface for the combat system on the upgraded Hobart Class destroyers and Hunter Class frigates. The opening of the Sovereign Combat Systems Collaboration Centre follows Saab’s recent expansion in Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT.
