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Saab Joint Venture Opens Unmanned Aircraft Plant in Sweden

by Bill Carey

 - March 23, 2016, 11:05 AM

Under development by UMS Skeldar, the F-720 will be capable of carrying COMINT/SIGINT and other payloads. (Photo: UMS Skeldar)

UMS Skeldar, the recently formed joint venture of Swiss firm UMS Aero and Saab, officially opened a new production facility for its line of remotely piloted aircraft systems in Linköping, Sweden, on March 23. The facility supports its strategic growth plan for this year and beyond, the company said.

The joint venture offers systems based on the Saab-developed Skeldar V-200, a 518-pound mtow unmanned helicopter; the 330-pound mtow R-350 helicopter; the fixed-wing F-330 (52 pounds); and the fixed-wing F-720 (551 pounds). The aircraft variously carry payloads including electro-optical/infrared and other sensors, communications relay systems and radars. The company advertises the smaller R-350 and F-330 platforms as “ITAR-free,” or not restricted by International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Formed last month, UMS Skeldar is 53-percent owned by UMS Aero Group, with Saab holding 47 percent. The joint venture is based near Basel, Switzerland, with manufacturing facilities in Linköping and the Swiss municipality of Möhlin. At the Singapore Airshow in February, executives informed AIN that the company has contracts with government agencies in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and UAE. The Indonesian military is acquiring the F-330, a catapult-launched surveillance platform with eight hours’ endurance.

The NATO-standard Skeldar V-200 has performed anti-piracy patrols with the Spanish navy. “Integrating the Skeldar into our portfolio of fixed-wing and rotary-wing platforms is a core objective for us, and one that will take off now [that] we have manufacturing capabilities in Sweden,” said David Willems, UMS Skeldar business development director.

“Following the landmark agreement between UMS Aero and Saab, it made complete sense for UMS Skeldar to open this facility under its own brand, not only because of the ease by which we are able to integrate the manufacturing expertise from Saab for the Skeldar, but also to add the capability of organizing demonstration flights close by,” added CEO Jakob Baumann, a former two-star general with the Swiss armed forces.