Saab opens radar production site in Fareham

Published by

Tom Kilkelly

Saab's Fareham site. Credit: Saab

Saab has opened a new radar production facility in Fareham as part of its growth strategy in the United Kingdom.

The company has said the new radar work will provide around 100-150 jobs with the whole site covering around 400 jobs.

Staff at the production facility will mainly handle the production and integration of the Swedish manufacturer's new Development Set which is 'a configuration of the Giraffe 1X highly mobile, compact, rapidly deployed, software-based, 3D AESA radar' according to the firm.

Dean Rosenfield, Group Managing Director of Saab UK, said: “This announcement of our new production facility in Fareham is the latest step in Saab UK’s growth and closely follows our recent acquisition of BlueBear. Starting up Sensor Systems means hundreds of skilled and economically valuable jobs, and a new UK defence industrial capability for our customers.''

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Saab UK’s Sensor Systems business will also act as a Centre of Excellence developing follow-on UK Intellectual Property in the radar domain.

The firm's Fareham site has been growing with the announcement in February 2023 of the expansion of its Underwater Systems business of Seaeye autonomous and remotely operated vehicles.

Across the UK, Saab has eight principal sites which focus on software engineering, underwater robotics, training services and radars.

Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge, said: “I very much welcome Saab’s investment into the UK, creating hundreds of skilled jobs and supporting our defence industrial base. I look forward to this new facility supporting our Armed Forces in utilising advanced radar capabilities.”

Tom Kilkelly

Tom Kilkelly started working as a freelance journalist for The Business Magazine following his graduation from UCL in 2022. During his studies Tom became very interested in the works of Irish authors including Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan). His current role as a freelance business reporter is his first exposure to the world of business journalism. Working at TBM has given Tom the chance to really get to grips with the goings-on in the business hive that is the South East.