Saab Grintek Defence's Command, Control, Training and Simulation capabilities a focus for 2016/2017

The company will market its Product Area Command, Control, Training and Simulation capabilities in African and international markets.

Defence and security company Saab, through its local South African company, Saab Grintek Defence, has focused its efforts on assertively marketing its Product Area (PA) Command, Control, Training and Simulation (C2TS) capabilities within African and international markets for 2016/2017.

PA C2TS, a fourth profit and loss responsible product area of SGD, is a highly focused business entity consisting of a strong team currently operating in three product units: C2 Air, C2 Land and Maritime, as well as C2 Training and Simulation.

These three product units are supported by business enablement, finance and allocated human resource, quality control and configuration management staff. Strong portfolio leadership, business innovation and their willingness to go above and beyond are some of PA C2TS's unique attributes that make its capabilities and services attractive to national strategic defence programmes and export customers.

"Our PA C2TS is currently a fully functional and profitable product area with mature products and exciting future plans. The PA has exceeded its targets for the first and second quarters of 2016," says Cobus van der Merwe, head of PA C2TS at Saab Grintek Defence. "SGD is committed to meeting its obligations as a supplier of sovereign capabilities to the South African government."

Based on a new business strategy that strongly leverages innovation and collaboration, an excellent team and an aggressive marketing plan, several new opportunities with short-term potential have been realised and successfully executed, resulting in order intake and sales exceeding the business targets set for the PA.

The nature of PA C2TS's business differs significantly from more traditional defence business in that it is typically of smaller magnitude, but requires rapid response.

The C2TS bread-and-butter business captures opportunities and completes contracts within a single customer financial year. This is in contrast to a typical defence contract, which follows the classical defence acquisition model that may take several years to complete the contract and then still have delivery lead times of up to 12 months.

"There are exceptions like major acquisition programmes or multi-year support contracts that require joint solutions pursued by specially constituted capture teams and specialised partnerships, but the rapid response capability of C2TS makes it an especially attractive supplier for new business opportunities," says Van der Merwe.

SGD's PA C2TS has a well-established network with excellent customer relationships that have been leveraged through activities like joint multinational C2-based training to expand business into the international market.

PA C2TS is currently conducting business in Namibia, Kenya, United Kingdom and Malaysia, with additional business opportunities being pursued in regions such as Asia, Europe and African Union mission areas.

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