Nato has unveiled plans to acquire up to 10 Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft in a $4.5 billion programme to replace its ageing AWACS fleet of Boeing E 3 Sentry.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said replacing the alliance's cold war era airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft with the Saab GlobalEye will significantly strengthen its ability to counter modern battlefield threats, particularly large scale drone swarms.
"This will ensure we keep Nato's surveillance and early warning capability strong and credible for decades to come," he said during an event at a Nato summit.
Rutte took pains to underline the international pedigree of the system which is mounted on top of Bombardier Global 6500 business jets.
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"Like its predecessor, GlobalEye is a transatlantic programme, delivered by European and Canadian industries with essential contributions from US industries. It is a real success story, again, made in Nato," he told delegates.
The announcement comes despite repeated calls by President Donald Trump for Nato allies to increase defence spending while prioritising the purchase of American military equipment.
Saab's GlobalEye was selected over Boeing's E 7 Wedgetail, marking a rare instance of Nato opting for a European instead of a competing American platform.
Saab CEO Micael Johansson valued the purchase at up to $4.5 billion and told reporters that the Swedish group would be able to start deliveries in 2030 if a deal were signed soon.
He said the final contract value is yet to be finalised, with each GlobalEye aircraft expected to cost between $400 million and $450 million. He added that the final order size will depend on whether Nato opts for the air to air refuelling variant.
Nato's current fleet of Boeing E 3 Sentry AWACS aircraft entered service in the early 1980s and has formed the backbone of the alliance's airborne surveillance capability for more than four decades
Operated from Geilenkirchen air base in Germany, the aircraft have supported missions ranging from the Balkans and Afghanistan to enhanced surveillance along Nato's eastern flank following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Saab GlobalEye
The Saab GlobalEye is a next generation Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform built on the Bombardier Global 6500 long range business jet.
Unlike conventional AWACS aircraft that primarily focus on air surveillance, GlobalEye is a multi domain surveillance system capable of simultaneously monitoring threats across the air, land and maritime domains.
At the heart of the aircraft is Saab's Erieye Extended Range (ER) Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, which significantly enhances the detection and tracking of both conventional and emerging threats.
The radar is designed to identify small and low observable targets at long ranges, including fighter aircraft, drones, cruise missiles and future aerial threats.
Beyond air surveillance, GlobalEye offers extensive maritime and ground surveillance capabilities. Its integrated sensor suite can detect surface vessels as small as jet skis at long distances and through the combined use of the Erieye ER radar and dedicated maritime surveillance radar, can even identify objects as small as a submarine periscope.
It has an instrumented surveillance range of more than 650 kilometres and an operational endurance exceeding 12 hours, enabling persistent surveillance over vast areas during a single mission.
The aircraft can use shorter runways and smaller airfields than conventional AWACS platforms while maintaining a full self protection suite and lower operating costs.
As modern warfare increasingly shifts towards drones, long range missiles and multi domain operations, the GlobalEye is expected to play a central role in Nato's future surveillance architecture.
The acquisition not only replaces the alliance's ageing AWACS fleet but also equips it with a more advanced and versatile airborne early warning capability for the decades ahead.
