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By Maxwell Orme Johnson
A radar manufacturer for more than fifty years,
Terma is the leading contractor in Denmark in a
host of defense-related applications – army
air defense, naval command and control, airborne
electronic warfare, airborne tactical reconnaissance,
aerial surveillance, and ground based communications.
In the civilian arena, Terma is a world leader in
air traffic control (ATC) information systems and
environmental surveillance. Not content to hold
its position in these proven areas, Terma also provides
a host of systems and services for space applications
and has invested heavily into the burgeoning and
ever more complex environment of embedded software
development.
Terma is also one of the six private sector Danish
companies that teamed together during the summer
of 2001 in a cooperative venture to support Denmark’s
continued participation in the development and production
of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Headquartered
in Lystrup, a suburb of Aarhus in Jutland, Terma
has an enviable track record of delivering state
of the art radar systems to the Danish Armed Forces
and to myriad international customers. Its stellar
performance was recognized in May 1999 when it received
the prestigious King Frederik IX Award for Excellence
in Export.
Major contracts awarded Terma during 2001-2002
include:
• The Royal Danish Navy for development of
a new radar system for the surveillance of Danish
waters. Terma’s latest radar, SCANTER 2001
will be delivered this budget year, and a number
of SCANTER 4000 systems, still in development, in
2005. SCANTER 2001 is a new family of radar products
developed to detect very small boats at long ranges
in bad weather conditions. According to company
officials, the next generation SCANTER 4000 will
be a quantum leap forward in coastal surveillance
capability, an advanced radar system that will play
an important part in consolidating and expanding
Terma’s business foundation for the rest of
this decade.
• With Saab Avionics AB for delivery of specially
developed reconnaissance equipment for the Royal
Swedish Air Force JAS39 Gripen, based in the significant
level of expertise Terma developed in pod-mounted
airborne reconnaissance systems for the Royal Danish
Air Force (RDAF) F-16.
• Framework agreements, a result of the RDAF
purchase of new EH101 helicopters, include production
of advanced composite and metal structures, as well
as parts for the electrical installations.
Since 1990 Terma has contributed to the European
Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Observation Spacecraft,
Envisat, for collection of data on the test and
integration systems, the spacecraft simulator and
on-board flight software. Terma has also been a
player in ESA missions Rosetta and Mars Express,
supplying test and integration system, the software
validation system and an advanced Power Conditioning
Unit, roughly the size of a shoebox and weighing
only 17 pounds. Terma’s solution delivers power
management and distribution efficiency and reliability
above the limit of what had previously been technically
possible. This has further strengthened the company’s
international profile.
Units of Terma’s Star Tracker have been delivered
to the Pentagon’s Foreign Comparative Testing
Program, with the aim of qualifying the Star Tracker
for use in American military space programs. The
Ørsted satellite has received significant
international acknowledgement for the scientific
results it has produced. In spring 2002, the project
was featured on the front page of the highly esteemed
American science journal Nature, in an article
being entitled "Twenty years in the Life of
Earth’s Magnetic Field." Terma is now
involved in the next mission in the Danish Small
Satellite Program.
Terma has entered into a contract with the Danish
Army Materiel Command for delivery of a new communication
system, SIFCOM, for field artillery units. Radio
communications will be based on a new standard that
exploits the capabilities and functions of the Internet.
The future success, indeed the vision of Terma
according to Bo Witthoft, Senior Vice President
for Airborne Systems, is based on dual competencies
– professional and process competencies as
well as management and organizational competencies.
The key is not individual competencies, but ‘the
organizational ability’ to establish the necessary
interplay between these competencies, which results
in core business processes that can be profitably
implemented. Thus, individual competencies strengthen
the company’s core competencies and thereby
its business opportunities. Put simply, Terma sticks
to its knitting, and performs in a stellar manner.
A critical key to Terma’s business success
is maintenance of its close and long-standing relations
with its customers. Management and development of
these relations is a key factor in all of Terma’s
strategic initiatives. In addition to basic elements
of function, price, quality and schedule, trust
and solid long-standing relationships are imperative
criteria when it comes to Terma’s customers’
decision-making.
Bo Witthoft sums up Terma: “We are proud to
be a member of the Danish JSF Team, and we believe
Terma will make a solid contribution in the design
of the radar system.”
For more information, please visit: www.terma.com
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