Saab announced on 27 June 2024 that it had received a contract that day from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) for a third GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft for the Swedish Air Force (SwAF). The order value was given as approximately SEK 2.6 billion (EUR 0.23 billion) and the delivery period stated to be 2024-2029.
The order is based on an option included in Saab’s June 2022 contract with the FMV that covered two GlobalEye platforms, which are to be designated S106s in SwAF service, as well as options for two additional aircraft.
“We are proud to contribute to Sweden’s defence with another GlobalEye aircraft, which will provide unique situational awareness of the surroundings as well the capability of early detection and warning of potential threats in the air, at sea or on land,” Saab president and CEO Micael Johansson was quoted as saying in a company press release.
Since 2004 the SwAF has operated a fleet of two Saab S100D Argus/ASC 890 AEW&C platforms, which are based on the Saab 340 twin-turboprop and feature the Erieye active electronically scanned-array radar system. On 24 May 2024, however, the Swedish government announced that, as part of a major Swedish military assistance package for Ukraine, the SwAF’s two currently serving ASC 890s would be gifted to Kyiv. The Swedish government acknowledged at the time that its AEW&C aircraft donation “will entail a temporary decrease of Sweden’s defence capability” and that this “will be managed through the acquisition of an additional GlobalEye aircraft and the bringing forward of an order already placed for two new GlobalEye aircraft”.
The first Global 6500 aircraft destined to become a GlobalEye AEW&C platform was delivered on 25 January 2024 to Saab Aircraft’s facilities at Linköping, where it will undergo extensive modifications and be equipped with the Erieye ER radar. The SwAF’s first two S 106 GlobalEye platforms were originally scheduled to be delivered in 2027, but this is now likely to happen sooner.
