Saab Signs Corporate Wide Software License with AdaCore

NEW YORK & AMSTERDAM, Netherlands--Saab, one of the world’s leading high-technology companies, today signed a corporate wide licensing agreement with AdaCore. Saab will adopt AdaCore’s GNAT Pro development environment for projects across the organisation and will standardise on GNAT Pro.

The €340,000 annual agreement provides Saab with a volume subscription for all its developers, rather than access to AdaCore tools and support on a project by project basis. GNAT Pro is available to Saab on a number of architectures and has been ported to more platforms, both native and embedded, than any other Ada technology.

The Ada programming language is designed specifically for large, long-lived applications where reliability, efficiency and safety are critical. AdaCore has been closely involved with the Ada language since its inception and its GNAT Pro development environment combines market-leading technology with an expert support system to provide a natural solution where efficient and reliable code is critical.

The agreement, signed by AdaCore’s Swedish distributor Asplund Data AB, demonstrates the importance of the Ada programming language to Saab. By using Ada Saab benefits from a high-integrity and high-quality programming language that enables it to develop safety-critical systems for projects across the whole group.

Saab has benefited from AdaCore’s combination of an advanced software development environment with expert support for over 7 years. It is currently being used by around 250 developers on projects that range from the Electronic Warfare System (EWCS) for the JAS 39 Gripen fighter to the GFORCE ship control system and Taurus, MPS and METEOR missiles. Divisions such as SaabTech, Saab Bofors Dynamics, Saab Microwave Systems, Saab Avitronics, and Saab Systems Pty Ltd are currently using Ada and GNAT Pro. By now standardising on AdaCore Saab will cost-effectively extend these benefits across the entire group.

“This agreement demonstrates the increasing importance of Ada to Saab’s development of world-leading defence and avionics systems,” commented Franco Gasperoni, Managing Director, AdaCore. “This is part of a growing trend of companies adopting AdaCore as a corporate standard. By moving to an organisation-wide licensing model, they are now benefiting from significant efficiencies and cost-savings as well as access to our advanced tools and support.”

GNAT Pro is a robust and flexible Ada development environment based on the GNU GCC compiler technology. It comprises a full Ada compiler (including support for Ada 2005), an Integrated Development Environment (GPS, the GNAT Programming Studio), a comprehensive toolset including a visual debugger, and a set of supplemental libraries and bindings. It is distributed with complete source code, and is backed by rapid and expert support service.

GNAT Pro has been used by industry and government customers worldwide in professional, mission-critical software products ranging from small-footprint real-time embedded applications to large-scale information management systems. It has been ported to more platforms, both native and embedded, than any other Ada technology.