The Swedish defense company Saab wants to expand its presence in the United States, so it plans to open a new plant there for the production of missile systems and weapons for the ground forces. The construction and launch of such a plant is part of Saab's project to quadruple production volumes at the company's facilities.
It is expected that the construction of this plant will begin by the end of 2024, and direct production will start as early as 2026.
This was stated by Eric Smith, the head of the Saab branch in the USA, writes the Defense News portal.
Smith said that the company is currently choosing options for the location of the plant, six states have submitted their offers for selection. In addition to direct munitions manufacturing workshops, the territory of this plant will also house a research center for innovations in the defense production segment.
The head of the American branch of Saab separately clarified that this plant plans to manufacture individual components for the GLSDB missile systems and infantry weapons.
At the moment, Saab itself is widely represented in the US defense market: factories for the production of remote-controlled underwater vehicles are operating in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and in addition, the company supports the work of a training center for the Marine Corps USA in California.
In addition, in 2021, Saab also opened a plant in the city of West Lafayette, Louisiana, which specializes in the manufacture of tail parts for T-7A Red Hawk training aircraft, as part of cooperation with the Boeing Corporation.