Saab to Provide Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport with Command & Control System

Defence and security company Saab has been awarded a contract by the City of Phoenix’s Aviation Department to provide an event management system for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX).  As part of the five-year agreement, Saab’s SAFE – an open integration software platform – will offer enterprise-wide situational awareness and a shared, common operational picture, including real-time landside and airside conditions.

SAFE is an enterprise command and control solution for organizations with mission-critical operations. Users can manage resources and events in real time through event-specific response plans and automatic record capturing. At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the system will be used for day-to-day routine events, as well as emergency situations.

“Globalization has made airports increasingly important for communities, both economically and socially. The City of Phoenix has taken an important step by procuring a system that will improve the use of existing assets and provide new functionality to enhance overall event coordination and response,” says Anders Carp, head of Saab’s business unit Traffic Management.

The contract includes installation and configuration of the SAFE platform, including gateway interfaces, training and support. Saab will partner with national mission-critical integrator SDI Presence LLC (SDI), leveraging SDI’s complex IT expertise and 20 years of experience in the aviation sector. 

Saab has been working with Phoenix Sky Harbor since 2012, when it was contracted to provide its Aerobahn Surface Management Suite. Aerobahn helps the airport manage its airside operations more effectively. The new SAFE deployment will integrate with Aerobahn in order to provide a truly comprehensive picture of what is happening at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport across both airside to landside domains. Phoenix Sky Harbor will be one of the first airports in the world with this level of insight into the safety and efficiency of their operations.

“Saab’s airport security offerings align with the needs of the U.S. market. Smooth airport operations require optimized workflows, increased efficiency and a higher level of safety and security and that’s exactly what Aerobahn together with SAFE provides,” says Anders Carp.