Saab 340 / Saab 2000 / S100B Argus
The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engined turboprop aircraft.The Saab 340 Cityliner, with its 33-seat capacity, is a passenger aircraft operated on secondary air routes with moderate traffic volume. It offers a means of providing scheduled air services to regions where current demand would not warrant the deployment of larger aircraft. Despite its small size, the Cityliner has all the facilities one would expect of an aircraft today, including advanced avionics and a fully-equipped galley.
The story of the Saab 340 is characterized as the best selling and most successful 30-seater ever built. The Saab 340 can provide performance qualities that allow operations in hot and high environments and enable short field operations. Because of its exceptional fuel-efficiency, contributing to the accomplishment of having about half the operating costs of a regional jet, the Saab 340 can offer service to a considerable variety of markets. The Saab 340 offers seating configurations between 30 and 36 business class seats in a quiet, spacious and comfortable cabin and cruises at a fast 285 knots. Due to its flexibility, comfort and reliable performance, the Saab 340 has become a favorite among airline passengers. The Saab 340 is currently available in six different versions: airliner, VIP, corporate, cargo, maritime patrol and airborne early warning & command.
The Saab 340 has not only been the backbone of many successful passenger and cargo operations serving niche markets around the world, but it has also served as a spring board for several of the larger regional airlines still in service serving domestic markets. The Saab 340 prototype took its first flight near the manufacturer’s Linköping facility. Flying with Air Midwest colors on the starboard side and Crossair on the port side to honor the US and European launch customers respectively, the Saab 340 flight took place on January 25, 1983. The year 1984 marked the inaugural flight of the Saab 340 into revenue service. Although it was not the first Saab 340 in revenue flight services (see SMR August 2005), Saab 340A serial number 004 was the first production Saab 340 to roll off the assembly lines in Linköping, Sweden. (Serial Numbers 001, 002 and 003 were test aircraft.)
In July 2006 Regional Express and Saab Aircraft Leasing reached an agreement covering five aircraft, which will see Rex add one leased Saab 340B plus extend its existing leases for four Saab 340B aircraft. Regional Express (Rex), the largest independent regional airline in Australia, has reached an agreement with Saab Aircraft Leasing to enter into a 5-year lease agreement for one Saab 340B aircraft as well as a corresponding extension to its existing four Saab 340B leases. The airline is well known for its affordable fares, reliability and On Time Performance and frequent service from Australia’s south eastern major cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide to 25 regional destinations.. The airline is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Rex has steadily expanded its Saab 340 fleet and is now one of the largest 340 operators in the world with over 30 aircraft. The airline has initiated the phase out of its 19-seat Metro 23s which will be replaced by Saab 340s before the end of the year, thereby achieving further cost benefits as a single fleet Saab 340 operator.
In April 2007 Estonian Airlines, the national carrier of the Republic of Estonia and part of the SAS Group, signed a contract with Saab Aircraft Leasing for the lease of two Saab 340s. The aircraft will join its fleet in May and September to commence scheduled flights from the airline´s Tallinn Airport base. The Saab 340s will replace Estonian Airlines larger 50-seat Fokker 50s and become the mainstay complement to the airline´s six-strong Boeing 737-500 fleet.
The Saab 340 executive aircraft has proven to be as dependable and economically attractive as it is with the airlines of today. Whether used for charter contracts to favorite vacation destinations or in the private sector as a means of bypassing the world’s busier airports and delays associated with them, Saab’s quality of reliable service and its high level of customer support provides the basis for successful operations in the future. In both the passenger and cargo operations, by late 2008 the Saab 340 maintained a leading position in the 30-seat market with nearly 40 Saab 340A models used as cargo aircraft. The Saab 340 fleet had passed the 13 million flight hour mark with 414 aircraft flying with 60 operators in 31 countries.
In November 2007, Saab Aircraft Leasing [SAL] was awarded a contract by the Argentine Air Force for the supply of Saab 340B aircraft beginning in 2008. The Saab 340B will be their new medium transport aircraft and will provide scheduled air service to small remote communities in Patagonia where air service by commercial airlines is not economically viable. The Saab 340B will replace the Fokker F27s which have been used by the Argentine Air Force for the remote community service for over 30 years. For SAL gaining this contract was an important event, as it reinforces our strategy to expand our market into the government arena. In recent years we have supplied aircraft to the Japanese Coast Guard as well as the Swedish Air Force.
Saab Aircraft Leasing, in cooperation with Saab Aerotech, won an approximately $34 million USD contract from the Argentine Air Force to buy four Saab 340Bs. The total budget for the aircraft and logistic support package will be spread over five years with the aircraft deliveries scheduled during 2008 and 2009. The deal is the culmination of a four-year process to select a new middle-size transport aircraft for the Argentine Air Force. The Saab 340Bs will be used to serve remote areas in the Patagonia region in southern Argentina, replacing old Fokker F27s. The Argentine Air Force ran an international RFP process in order to select the best package of aircraft and support services. Saab Aircraft Leasing was declared winner of this process and the two parties formalized a final agreement that includes four completely overhauled Saab 340B aircraft, together with a complete logistic package of spares, manuals, tools, ground support equipment, training of pilots and mechanics, Saab on-location technical support as well as a “Parts Exchange Program”on the rotables, including propeller and landing gear.
S 100B Argus SAAB 340 AEW&C
An AEW version with a phased-array radar in a rectangular pod on top of the fuselage was developed in the early 1990s. In 1994 the first Saab 340 AEW &C was delivered and radar integration work was begun. In 1995 the Saab 340 AEW & C was re-designated S 100B (S = Spaning = Reconnaissance) and given the official name Argus. The Swedish air force ordered six aircraft, four of will be fitted with radar, two fitted for, but not with, radars to be used as tranports until a need for more airborne radars materialises. Some are used by Japan as Search-and-Rescue aircraft.
The Ericsson PS-890 Erieye radar uses an active array with 200 solid state modules. The range of the S-band, 3 GHz, side looking radar is 300 km. The 1,985-lb (900-kg) dorsal antenna is housed in a 29-ft 6.3-in (9-m) long box radome mounted atop the fuselage. Utilizing adaptive side lobe suppression, the look angle on each side is about 160 degrees. From its standard operational altitude of 6000 meters (19,685 feet, or FL200) the radar has a maximum range of 450 km (279 miles). Against a fighter-sized target effective range is approximately 330 km (205 miles). Seaborne targets can be detected at 320 km (1998 miles), though this is a function of the aircraft's cruising height. The electronically scanned antenna can scan sectors of interest frequently while others are monitored, and asingle sector can be scanned in different modes at the same time. The aircraft does not carry controllers (although it's large enough to do so), but functions as an an airborne radar integrated with the total air defence network.
Saab 2000
Saab also made the 2000 which first flew in 1992, and is also still in use today, although more limited than it’s 340 predecessor. The Saab 2000 is a unique aircraft. It delivers jet speed with turboprop economy. Equipped with 50 business class seats in a comfortable, spacious and unexpectedly quiet cabin, this modern airplane is the most flexible, high technology regional aircraft in the world. The aircraft possesses superior jet-like performance with a cruising speed at 370 kts and an unmatched hot and high short airfield capability. Rapid rates of climb and a service ceiling of 31,000 ft combine to provide a high degree of operational flexibility. Having these performance qualities in combination with turboprop economics, makes the Saab 2000 one of a kind. The Saab 2000 is available in three different versions: airliner, corporate and flight inspection. The Saab 2000 fleet has flown 1.1 million flight hours with 58 aircraft flying with 13 operators in 11 countries.
Saab Aircraft Leasing manages a portfolio of about 200 Saab 340 and Saab 2000 aircraft leased to 25 airlines around the world. With 35 employees, its head-office is in Washington, DC and regional offices in Stockholm Sweden and Tokyo Japan.
Saab 2000 AEW&C
The Saab 2000 AEW&C is an advanced tactical surveillance system. It utilizes the latest generation Active Electronically Scanned Array ERIEYE radar, now capable of detecting small air and sea targets, hovering helicopters and cruise missiles. It has a 450km instrumented range and provides coverage at 20km (65,000 ft) and can effectively survey a 500,000 square meter area and automatically track priority targets. In addition to the AEW&C role, the aircraft can be used for national security and border protection missions, as an airborne command and control for disaster management coordination or emergency air traffic control.
The ERIEYE AEW&C is the world’s only operational airborne Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar in service today. The Saab 2000 ERIEYE AEW&C utilises the latest generation ERIEYE radar, now capable of detecting small air targets, hovering helicopters, cruise missiles and small sea targets such as inflatable rubber boats, for a more complete surveillance picture. In June 2006, SAAB signed a $ 1.2 billion contract to supply S100B Argus turboprop airborne early warning (AEW&C) systems. Pakistan aimed to buy 14 SAAB 2000 aircraft from Sweden: 7 for the PAF's AEW&C role as Argus aircraft, and the remaining 7 will reportedly be acquired by the state-owned PIA airline.
The Saab 2000 ERIEYE™ Airborne Early Warning & Command System (AEW&C) took a brief pause from its successful flight test program to make a debut appearance at the Farnborough International Air Show in July 2008. The flight test program began in April in Linköping and moved to Granada, Spain for the favorable weather and hot and high conditions during the summer prior to arriving at the world’s largest air show. Towards the end of 2008, the aircraft was handed over to Saab Surveillance Systems to implement the systems testing phase of the program.
