Securing Littoral Supremacy
For every maritime nation, information gathering, surveillance and sea control along every coastline has never been more important. Today the centre of gravity for naval operations has shifted away from the deep, open oceans to the shallower but far more complex littoral zones just over the horizon.
Littoral challenges
When operating in littoral areas one of the biggest challenges is the detection of targets and threats that blend into the natural environment, such as islands, or into the flow of commercial and recreational traffic. A confusing combination of wide thermal variations in water layers, unpredictable tides and currents, reverberation and highly directional ambient noise also makes it difficult to monitor the surroundings.
Mastering the littoral environment requires systems with extreme sensitivity and accuracy. The technologies used for operations in open seas do not always face the same demands as those needed for coastal areas. Operations also require personnel with experience of the littoral environment and these are normally found only in a few countries.
Malaysia’s coastline.
“The situation around Malaysia is rapidly changing and now almost every country in the region has an expanding navy with their own fleet of submarines. For a country like Malaysia, dependent on trade and with such a complex maritime geography, it is very important to be in full control of vital sea lanes and possible choke points, to ensure free access and safe movement” says Thomas Linden, Head of Saab Malaysia.
Just like Saab’s home market Sweden, with its dense archipelago, Malaysia is a country with a complex coastline, countless small islands and deep sea close to shore. Over many decades Sweden has developed a detailed understanding of this environment and the Swedish Navy has operated and exercised in littoral areas for many years. This experience is vital when working with naval forces from Malaysia and other countries with similar environments.
Saab’s naval capabilities cover the entire spectrum of surface and subsurface operations. With decades of experience, Saab has a proven history of delivering ship and submarine systems, integrated combat systems and a wide range of dedicated subsystems and products across the naval domain.
This week you can find the Saab team at LIMA17 in Malaysia. Get the latest news and updates from three echibition at our event site.