NATO to acquire ‘up to’ 10 Saab GlobalEyes for E-3 replacement, says Secretary General

ANKARA — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said today that a number of allies have jointly decided to acquire a fleet of Swedish-produced GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWACS) aircraft to replace aging E-3 Sentry surveillance planes.

“Today we are announcing the joint procurement of up to 10 Saab GlobalEyes,” Rutte told the NATO defence industry forum here.

Addressing the event, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson added that the planned procurement, “is a moment of great pride for Sweden and even prouder for what it entails for NATO. By 2027, we will see these GlobalEyes operating from Swedish bases.”

Selection of a European solution, which falls under the alliance’s initial Allied Future Surveillance and Control (iAFSC) project, comes five months after a group of allies walked away from a planned buy of Boeing E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, due to the loss of “strategic and financial foundations.”

NATO had initially committed to buy six E-7s under the former iAFSC plan but ditched the idea after the Trump administration revealed that it planned to cancel the program. (Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has since reversed course, following strong pushback from American lawmakers.)

In light of the allies scrapping the Wedgetail plan, Saab CEO Micael Johansson told Breaking Defense in November that NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) “has looked into this [future AWACS operations with GlobalEye] now and they have concluded that this capability will fill a gap if you use it in a proper way.”

At the time, he also said that Saab could meet NATO’s planned operational target for the E-3 successor in 2031. Additionally, regarding potential production plans, he noted that Saab is “investing to deliver more [GlobalEye] aircraft per year from the Swedish hub” in Gothenburg, with potential support from the French aviation maintenance and modification provider Sabena Technics.

During a press conference on the sidelines of the summit, Johansson told reporters that NATO’s decision to select the Swedish aircraft was likely driven by three pillars: affordability, capabilities, and the time and speed of deliveries. According to him, the first units could be supplied to the military alliances by 2030.

Today’s announcement had been expected after French business outlet La Lettre first reported the purported GlobalEye selection had been decided back in April. At the time, however, neither NATO nor Saab confirmed such a move.

The alliance’s selection also comes after Canada said in May that it had opened talks with Saab to negotiate a planned GlobalEye acquisition.

Elsewhere in Europe, Paris finalized a deal to buy two GlobalEye aircraft, valued at 12.3 billion Swedish Kroner ($1.3 billion), in December. “There is an option for another two in that contract that we’re discussing,” Johansson said in April. Regarding other potential exports, he said Germany and Poland have both shown “interest.”

According to Saab company literature, the aircraft is designed to offer airborne, maritime and ground surveillance within a single platform, chiefly through integration of a new Erieye ER (Extended Range) radar capable of operating in “severe clutter and jamming environments.”