GRAYLING — Crawford County is in the running for a new weapons development center and manufacturing facility.
Defense industry firm Saab, Inc., first announced in March that this project would be located somewhere in the United States.
More recently, the company posted help-wanted ads for a “director of manufacturing” in two possible locations: Grayling, Michigan, and Odon, Indiana.
Odon is a small town with about 1,400 residents about 90 miles southwest of Indianapolis. More importantly, it’s just 9 miles from the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center in nearby Crane, Indiana.
The NSWC is the third-largest naval installation in the world by geographic area and employs about 3,000 civilians plus another 2,500 contract workers, according to U.S. Navy sources – much larger than the proposed Saab facility.
Odon’s proximity to NSWC could be a key factor in the decision.
However, Grayling comes to the table with some key advantages.
The Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center is the largest National Guard training facility in the United States, spanning 148,000 acres of diverse training land and 113 square miles of restricted air space.
Camp Grayling is also the keystone of the National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) which combines assets in multiple areas of the state, including 17,000 square miles of special-use military airspace at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.
In addition to combat expertise, Camp Grayling features a massive gunnery range for realistic weapons testing and training in all weather environments, as well as battle simulators. Visiting military units also can train in cyberwarfare and spaced-based reconnaissance at the facility.
From a business perspective, Grayling offers prime ground transportation networks via I-75 and U.S. 127, as well as numerous other roadways. Camp Grayling itself has an Army Airfield with two 5,000-foot runways.
Civic and business leaders in the area, including Grayling Mayor Heather Forbes, have already expressed their enthusiasm for the Saab facility, which could provide dozens of well-paying jobs for the local economy.
Saab officials visited the city last month, but did not release any further details at that time.
Michigan is already home to several Tier 1 defense contractors, including Humvee-maker AM General, BAE Systems, GM Defense, General Dynamics, GE Aviation and Precision Aerospace. Dozens of smaller companies supply parts to those corporations.
The Michigan Economic Development Corp. offers tax incentives, loan assistance, training programs and many other benefits to employers who locate or expand in the state. MEDC officials did not return calls about the proposed Saab facility by press time.
Which location will ultimately be chosen is still unknown, but a company spokesman said the decision will be announced “soon” because their goal is to open the facility for production in 2026.
Kevin Boland, director of corporate affairs for Saab North America, released this statement to the Record-Eagle on Thursday evening:
“Earlier this year, Saab announced plans to build a new munitions facility in the United States. We are moving quickly to select a location, with a final decision to be announced soon.
“In preparation, we are in the process of posting several job openings at various locations we are actively considering. This is consistent with past practices in order to meet our commitment to open the facility for production in 2026.”
SAAB U.S. OPERATIONS
Founded in 1937 to develop combat aircraft, Saab is now an international supplier of a wide range of military equipment and training simulators for air, land and sea missions, as well as security devices. It employs about 22,000 people globally, including about 1,000 at 10 facilities in the U.S., Boland said.
“We have a special security agreement with the Department of Defense that allows foreign-owned firms,” he said. The firm’s U.S headquarters is in East Syracuse, New York. The automobile division of Saab stopped making cars in 2014.
Sweden became a member of the NATO alliance on March 7 of this year.
The new Saab facility will “support the engineering and production of missile weapon systems for the U.S. military, such as components for the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb system, and close combat weapons,” according to a Saab newsletter.
Precisely what GLSDB missile-related components and/or other close combat weapons would be produced by Saab at the new location is not yet known. Unlike ground-launched missiles, close combat weapons are typically hand-held or shoulder-mounted devices.
FROM BOMB TO PRECISION ROCKET
The GLSDB is an outgrowth of Boeing’s GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, which was originally developed for use by aircraft, according to defense information publisher Janes.
In partnership with Saab, engineers later created a new missile version that can be deployed from ground level using a variety of launchers and configurations, such as the Multiple Launch Rocket System and HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) platform being used by Ukrainian forces today.
Saab describes the 250-pound class Small Diameter Bomb as “an exceptionally flexible, highly effective and accurate over long distances” that features “advanced anti-jam GPS system-aided inertial navigation system, combined with a multipurpose, penetrating blast-and-fragmentation warhead and programmable electronic fuze.”
Key advantages for the ground-launched missile version in the battlefield, Saab says, include: increased range, accuracy to within one meter, all-weather capability, terrain avoidance, both low- and high-attack angles, and a “focused lethality version for low collateral damage.”
The GLSDB has a range of about 93 miles. It can be set to detonate above the ground or with a delay for deep penetration of hardened facilities, such as bunkers.
The industry journal DefenseOne reported in April that Ukraine has already deployed the GLSDB or something similar to it. Results were disappointing because of Russian electronic warfare counter measures, according to DefenseOne.
Boeing officials did not confirm that GLSDB was the weapon under discussion, but did say that the company is “working closely” with the Defense Department to improve the system’s software capabilities, which is common for high-tech weapons in the defense industry.
A CHANGING DEFENSE INDUSTRY
In the 21st century defense industry, most weapon systems undergo multiple rounds of improvement and modification over the years to meet changing challenges. This is particularly true for missiles and modern munitions with their electronic guidance systems, sophisticated sensors and complex software.
The defense sector is also a big employer. DOD contractors employ more than 1 million civilians in the U.S today, according to the National Security Technology Accelerator, accounting for more than $200 billion in economic activity.
As the nature of warfare continues to change, defense manufacturing is moving away from the “steel and gun powder” model of the past to putting a high premium on technical prowess, often involving multiple partner companies. The new Saab facility is a tangible example of that trend.