Exclusive: Maxar and Saab seek stronger Europe in new partnership
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios.
Maxar Intelligence and Saab are expanding their partnership, this time focused on geospatial intelligence, drone autonomy and improved targeting.
Why it matters: The collaboration could bolster European security at a time when Russia's war machine looms large and a rearmed continent remains a hot topic.
- "We can transfer that knowledge, their capabilities, into European defense in several different ways," Per Järbur, director of strategy and future capabilities at Saab's Dynamics business area, told Axios.
Zoom in: The deal gives Saab access to Maxar's satellite imagery and terrain data, as well as software like Raptor, which lets drones navigate in the absence of GPS with no additional, bolted-on equipment.
- The two companies tested Raptor in multiple countries, but did not specify which.
- "If you think about the geo-accuracy of what we're doing, we're within a couple of meters … for things like targeting and so forth," Dan Smoot, Maxar Intelligence's chief executive, said in an interview. "That's the power of having this rapid and precise 3D capability built into Raptor."
Zoom out: The goal is to have an immediate effect. Both companies mentioned strengthening C5ISR, or command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Context: Widespread jamming in the Russia-Ukraine war has dizzied drones and more traditional munitions.
- Meanwhile, governments and private citizens have expressed a growing interest in overhead imagery, which lets them keep tabs on neighbors and far-flung regions.
Go deeper: Saab's Erik Smith: Global security has "seen and unseen connections"
