DSA 2012 : SAAB Hopeful for Skeldar Deployment

A Saab official has outlined the company's plans to demonstrate the Skeldar UAV to Asian customers next year as it hopes current anti-piracy campaigns will lead to a Swedish purchase of the system.


Hans Burgland, director of marketing for UAS and future products told Shephard at the DSA2012 exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 16 April that the Skeldar has interest from the Asia-Pacific region, and the company needs to demonstrate in country.


'If we don't do it this year, we definitely will next year. There will be some sort of campaign.


'We are working hard in Sweden, working in particular with the navy. We are hoping that in 2013 there will be a Swedish [anti-piracy] mission in Somalia, and that the Skeldar can be part of that campaign.'

The platform will also participate in Swedish Army and Navy testing in 'the next three weeks to a month' in Revingehed, an army exercise area in Southern Sweden, and the Skeldar will be integrated into a Saab scenario test.


So far there have been no orders for the platform, and the company continues to test and develop it for potential custom.


'We hope to see the first contract this year, and when the first order is there, it will bloom,' Berglund explained, saying that it is just a case of getting the first customer to to prove the capability of the system. 'The customers are not yet mature enough for this system.'

The system comes in a naval and land variant, with a heavy fuel engine for the maritime version, and Berglund said that 'we haven't yet decided how the naval variant will look.'


The maritime Skeldar will come with the option of having a three-legged undercarriage for stability when landing on ships, or a typical skid system, depending on customer requirements.