Saab 340 AEW&C in Swedish Air Force service. (Credit: Bartosz Głowacki)
WASHINGTON — Poland has formally issued a contract to buy two 340 Airborne Early Warning aircraft from Swedish manufacturer Saab, the company said today, in a deal worth approximately SEK 600 million ($58 million USD).
Saab said the planes will be equipped with its Erieye radar, and also includes ground equipment “as well as in-country logistics and support.”
“Saab has had a strong relationship with the Polish Ministry of National Defence for many years,” Carl-Johan Bergholm, head of Saab’s surveillance business area, said in a statement. “We are proud to further strengthen Poland’s Armed Forces with our airborne early warning and network-based solutions.”
The formal order comes two months after a spokesman of the Polish Armament Agency, Lt. Col. Krzysztof Płatek, said that Warsaw was “in talks” with Saab about the two 340s — a bit of a surprise arrangement as observers previously speculated Poland might be interested in the firm’s brand new GlobalEye platform. The 340 is based on a 40-year-old prop airframe.
Saab says the 340s, in varying configurations, have been sold to nine countries, “making it one of the most widely used airborne surveillance systems in the world.”
Still, at the time Platek didn’t close the door on other purchases to come. “We do not exclude the purchase of more technologically advanced early warning aircraft in the future,” he said.
The purchase of the 340s is part of a broader effort by Poland to increase its surveillance capabilities, which are expected to be augmented by tethered aerostats. In late May Platek announced Poland had made inquiries in the US about four such systems.
“Swedish [early warning] aircraft will allow Polish Air Force to develop its own capabilities, which may also allow for support with reconnaissance data from other countries in the region, such as the Baltic States, providing their security, as in the Baltic Air Policing missions. In the same way, we can also acquire data for allies if they ask us to do so,” he said then.
More broadly, Poland is underway with a massive spending spree to modernize its military. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Warsaw has announced deals for Abrams tanks, Apache combat helicopters and HIMARS rocket launchers from the United States and South Korean-made K2 tanks, Chunmoo rocket launchers, K9 self-propelled howitzers and FA-50 combat aircraft. The most recent announcement came Friday, when the country said it will purchase an undisclosed number of Black Hawk helicopters.
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