Saab India Technologies Pvt. Ltd. today inaugurated the Saab India Technology Centre, a Research and Development Centre, in partnership with Mahindra Satyam in Hyderabad.

The Saab India Technology Centre, SITC, will form a bridge between India and Sweden. The aim of the centre is to support the internal operational excellence and optimization initiatives within Saab, while also supporting Saab to expand in the Indian market. An initial base of 100 skilled Indian engineers to be inducted by the close of 2012 will form the backbone of the Centre. The SITC is expected to increase its headcount to at least 300 over the next three years.

The Centre will undertake Research and Development in aerospace, defense and urban innovation including civil security. The primary areas of development will include Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The SITC envisages future development in the areas of Signal processing and Systems Engineering.

Inaugurating the SITC, Saab President and CEO Hakan Buskhe, said:  "With the establishment of this Research and Development Centre, Saab has invested in a sustainable and long term relationship with Mahindra Satyam to co-develop critical technologies not only for India but to support our global markets. This Centre is a part of Saab's future offer for the world market."
 
C P Gurnani, CEO, Mahindra Satyam said:  "Aerospace & Defense is a major growth area for us and establishment of SITC is a strategic step towards synergizing Mahindra Satyam's unique strengths in mission critical systems, engineering services, systems integration and Saab's expertise in aerospace, Network centric warfare, special IT systems."

Saab India Technologies Managing Director Inderjit Sial added:  "This Centre represents Saab's commitment to investing in India and partnering in creating India's technology base in areas of national security and defense needs. Saab is providing technological and knowledge partnership to support India's ambition to be an independent player within the defense technology market, with special focus on aerospace technology."