ASTRONAUT BECOMING BOARD MEMBER OF SAAB

Saab Group has appointed Marcus Wandt, an astronaut and former Swedish Air Force fighter pilot, as Senior Vice President and head of the new group function Group Strategy and Technology, effective 1 November 2025. This new group function will strengthen Saab’s strategic edge and focus on group-level strategy, technology, mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, and ventures. Wandt, currently Saab’s Chief Innovation Officer, brings visionary leadership and deep technology expertise, recognized also from his 2024 mission to the International Space Station with the European Space Agency.

Saab Group is a leading Swedish defence and security company headquartered in Stockholm, with development and manufacturing operations mainly in Linköping. The company operates through four main business areas — Aeronautics, Dynamics, Surveillance, and Kockums — supplemented by Support and Services.

• Aeronautics delivers world-class military and civil aircraft systems, including the JAS 39 Gripen fighter, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and advanced aerostructures for global aerospace manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus. Their research supports future manned and unmanned combat air systems, exemplified by Saab’s partnership in the European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program.
• Dynamics offers a broad portfolio of ground combat weapons, missile systems (like the RBS series), torpedoes, remotely operated vehicles, and training systems. The division notably includes the Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle and other short-range weapon systems.
• Surveillance provides airborne surveillance platforms (including Saab 2000 Erieye and GlobalEye AEW&C systems), ground- and naval-based radar, electronic warfare systems, and command-and-control solutions to give customers comprehensive situational awareness.
• Kockums specializes in the development and production of advanced submarines and surface vessels, leveraging decades of naval expertise.

Over the past three years, Saab has demonstrated strong financial and operational performance amid a dynamic global defence market. For the first half of 2025, Saab posted an order intake of SEK 28.4 billion and sales of SEK 19.8 billion, reflecting organic growth of 32% compared to the previous year. The Dynamics division particularly excelled with a 73% increase in quarterly sales. Saab’s EBITDA margin improved to 14.3%, and EBIT rose by 49%, delivering a 10% EBIT margin. Net income increased 53% to SEK 1.5 billion, highlighting robust profitability. Continued investments in production capacity and innovation underpin Saab’s ambitious growth trajectory.

Saab’s strategic outlook centers on a “multi-domestic” growth approach — deepening presence in key international markets via partnerships, acquisitions, and digital transformation initiatives. The company is strongly focused on advancing autonomy, artificial intelligence in command and control, distributed sensing, and data-centric defence capabilities to maintain technology leadership.

The creation of the Group Strategy and Technology function under Marcus Wandt signifies Saab’s emphasis on strengthening group-wide strategic alignment with innovation and market opportunities. According to CEO Micael Johansson, this function will ensure Saab remains at the forefront of rapidly evolving technologies critical to global security.

Saab’s organizational structure, combined with its disciplined execution and strategic foresight—now further bolstered by the leadership of astronaut and innovator Marcus Wandt—positions the Group to capitalize on expanding defense demands while pushing technological boundaries in aerospace, naval, and land defense solutions.

About The Author

Thomas Franke

Thomas Franke has been working for more than 30 years in the field of security and defense. One of the main focuses of his recent activities is the “Forum Vernetzte Sicherheit gGmbH,” which he founded. This is a news portal and network dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary exchange on all essential aspects of security.

During his work as an advisor in the German Bundestag, Franke became familiar with the concept of synergistic security. It’s NATO affiliation is the “comprehensive approach”. He adopted this approach and consistently emphasized security aspects during his numerous roles as soldier, researcher, press officer and publisher. Through this, Franke gained expertise not only in the military domain but also in financial security, corporate risk management, political and societal risks.

Among other initiatives, Franke advocates for research projects that enable a new security architecture through collaboration between civilian, governmental, and scientific actors (Public-Private Partnerships/PPPs). Until March 2021, he led a bilateral research project on security in pharmaceutical logistics, funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Austria’s Ministry for Innovation and Technology (BMVIT).

Most recently, Franke is mainly focused on cognitive warfare, Enterprise Architecture Management and human performance modification for the Federal Armed Forces of Germany.

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