Saab 2000 MPA
Posted on 06/12/2011 8:58:49 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Saab's 'special mission' aircraft searches for customers
By Lucy Burton Business reporter, BBC News, Sweden
Framed by huge hangar doors, the planes in Saab's service and maintenance hangar sit together like actors on a stage.
Every morning these aircraft at Sweden's Scavsta airport are provided fuelled and fully serviced for Saab's military and civilian customers.
"It's our responsibility to keep the planes operational,'' says Bo Soderling, marketing director for Saab Services and Support.
"If we're lucky," he says, "at the end of the day we get them back in working order".
Any minor damage or small glitches are sorted by the team in Scavsta, but if an aircraft comes back with a bigger problem it can be sent to the Saab factory - an hour or so away - at Linkoping.
Mr Soderling describes the operation as a "total support service" and more and more customers are buying into the capability of the services team.
The engineers in the services and maintainence hangar prepare the planes each day The engineers in the services and maintainence hangar prepare the planes each day
The operation here is an example of how Saab Aerospace and Defence have modified their business model.
In the past, people working here used to refer to "the customer" - the Swedish Air Force. But they are now trying to expand their portfolio and try to sell defence and service solutions to customers all around the world. Smart recycling
One part of their service is what they call their ''special missions" department.
It is a sort of "pimp-my-plane" department that takes discontinued Saab passenger planes and re-modifies them.
A few years ago, turbo-prop passenger planes such as the Saab 340 and 2000 models were all
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Saab 2000 MPA
“Isn’t that special.”
MAD Boom probably extends, like the old S-2 did.
Or the CH-53 refueling probe, demonstrating why it is NORMALLY retracted!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO0sRWCf9k4
oops...
““Isn’t that special.”
Or, with a Southern accent,
“Isn’t that spatial.”
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