On June 27th, The Saab company announced a new contract with the Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) for the provision of a third airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) GlobalEye to the Swedish Air Force;in order to fill the gap that will soon be left in the capacities with the transfer of a Saab 340 AEW to Ukraine. It should be noted that the order is part of the options included in the previous contract signed between both parties in 2022 that included two GlobalEye, as well as options to acquire two additional aircraft.
In May of this year, the Swedish government confirmed the transfer of a Saab 340 AEW&C airborne early warning and control aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Forcewhich in practice meant a reduction in airborne surveillance and control capabilities for the country’s air force. In this framework, along with the announcement of the new assistance package for Ukraine, the Nordic country’s Defense Portfolio confirmed that they would firm the order for two AEW&C GlobalEye aircraft.
Recently, Saab confirmed that it was advanced in the provision of the first two aircraft for the Swedish Air Force included within the year 022 contra; emphasizing that the first of them is already in its conversion stage, after earlier this year a Bombardier Global 6000 from Canada arrived at the Saab facilities in Linköping to carry out the conversion work to the future platform. airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) GlobalEye.
The Saab GlobalEye aircraft correspond to an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system with sensors and equipment installed on a Bombardier Global 6000/6500 aircraft, whose operational range reaches eleven thousand kilometers. They stand out for having the latest version of the AESA Erieye radar, the possibility of operating up to a height of 10,700 meters and the ability to detect threats within a range of 458 kilometers.
Saab has highlighted, in the words of its president and CEO Micael Johansson, that “We are proud to contribute to the defense of Sweden with another GlobalEye aircraft, which will provide unique situational awareness of the environment, as well as detection and early warning capability of potential threats in the air, at sea or on land.“.
*Photographs used for illustration.
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