Saab acquires British AI firm BlueBear

Swedish defence sector prime Saab AB has acquired UK-based AI and autonomy specialist BlueBear Systems Group Ltd.

BlueBear, which employs 65 staff at its Bedford, UK, base is a world-leading provider of AI-enabled autonomous swarm systems for complex defence and security applications. The company had a turnover of £8 million ($15.6 million) in 2022. The purchase is part of Saab’s continued international growth journey across key markets, which include the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Germany, says the company.

The combination of Saab’s products, services and solutions, and BlueBear’s experience as an agile integrator of AI-enabled autonomous swarm systems will be a powerful driver of Saab’s future capabilities, the company believes. BlueBear will contribute to Saab’s existing activities worldwide and Saab will benefit from BlueBear’s expertise in autonomy and swarming, as well as command and control systems.

“This acquisition is another step in support of our international growth strategy as we seek to ensure Saab is well positioned in key markets and to sustain our competitive advantage. BlueBear, as world-leading provider of AI-enabled autonomous swarm systems for complex defence and security applications, is a good fit with our approach of leveraging emerging technologies in the fields of autonomous systems and AI,” says Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab.

Within Saab, BlueBear will be a centre for Rapid Concept Development providing expertise and scaling-up innovation.

“For BlueBear this is an important step in our journey as we now move forward as part of Saab. We see many enhanced opportunities around naval, air and land autonomy, payload integration, next generation command and control, AI-enabled defence clouds as well as next generation platforms,” says Dr Yoge Patel, CEO of BlueBear.