By Christina Zander
STOCKHOLM--Swedish defence company Saab (SAAB-B.SK) said Tuesday
it has received orders to build two new submarines and upgrade two
Gotland-class submarines, valued at 8.6 billon Swedish kronor ($1
billion), for the Swedish navy.
The contracts were signed with the Swedish Defence Materiel
Administration, a government agency responsible for defense
supplies.
Sweden, which is developing new, stealthier submarines known as
A26, had planned to contract ThyssenKrupp, the world's largest
exporter of nonnuclear submarines, to build two of the new models
and upgrade some of its current underwater fleet. But disagreements
over price and submarine exports prompted Sweden to change its
plans.
The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration pulled work on the
A26 submarine from ThyssenKrupp in the beginning of last year and
said it had hired Saab to investigate how Sweden could maintain its
submarine capacity over the long term.
The total order value for the two submarines is SEK7.6 billion.
Deliveries will start in 2022 and be completed in 2024.
The mid-life upgrade on two of Sweden's existing Gotland-class
submarines is valued at SEK2.1 billion. The two upgraded
Gotland-class submarines will be delivered in late 2018 and late
2019, respectively.
Saab had already received orders in 2014 and 2015 for the
procurement of subsystems related to these contracts and these
existing orders have a total value of SEK1.1 billion. Hence, the
total order value related to Tuesday's orders amounts to SEK8.6
billion, Saab said.
At 0704 GMT Saab shares traded up 1.5% at SEK204.00.
Write to Christina Zander at christina.zander@wsj.com
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