BERLIN — In the wake of NATO allies throwing out a plan to acquire six Boeing E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, Saab CEO Micael Johansson hopes that the Swedish firm’s GlobalEye will be selected as an alternative — especially as the alliance has, he claims, taken a more progressive stance on the operational value of the platform than in the past.
“To my knowledge, I think SHAPE [Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe] 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,” he told Breaking Defense on the sidelines of the Berlin Security Conference Tuesday.
The apparent change in thinking comes two years after NATO dismissed a GlobalEye offer, instead announcing and justifying E-7 selection for the initial Allied Future Surveillance and Control (iAFSC) program on the basis that it was “the only known military-off-the-shelf/non-developmental system…. capable of fulfilling the strategic commands’ essential operational requirements.”
Johansson said he couldn’t “judge whether they have tweaked the [iAFSC] requirements” since then, “but apparently, I mean, SHAPE supports that this [GlobalEye] can actually fill a gap” left by the retiring E-3 Sentry fleet. “I hope we are at that stage and then that that moves into an acquisition, but we’re not there yet,” he added.
Johansson also confirmed that GlobalEye could meet NATO’s planned operational target of 2031 for the E-3 successor, “or earlier.”
As Breaking Defense previously reported, GlobalEye will face competition from L3Harris to secure a new iAFSC contract, though it remains unclear how NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency intends on reshaping or recompeting the effort, in the immediate aftermath of allies walking away from the E-7.
Setting out potential production options for a NATO GlobalEye order, Johansson shared that Saab is “investing to deliver more aircrafts per year from the Swedish hub,” or could receive support from French aviation maintenance and modification provider Sabena Technics.
GlobalEye, modified from Bombardier’s Global 6000/6500 business jet line, is produced from Saab’s Gothenburg facility but the company has also drafted in Sabena to perform modification work aligned to France’s plan to acquire two of the multi-domain aircraft — initially announced at the Paris Air Show, though not yet on contract.
Sweden is also acquiring three GlobalEyes, and the UAE has five operational. Saab is eyeing two further potential customers in Germany and Canada.
In late September, German defense minister Boris Pistorius reportedly said that GlobalEye is in “pole position” to secure an order from the European nation. However, Johansson said it is “not clear to me,” whether Germany would acquire an AEW&C aircraft as a “national asset” or if Berlin is instead interested in joining the common allied procurement under the iAFSC umbrella.
As for Canada, Ottawa has not “really started the acquisition process, but they have an interest in” an AEW&C program, “so we’re giving information on that,” said Johansson.
His comments came shortly after the announcement of Saab, BAE Systems and Boeing teaming up to jointly pitch the T-7 trainer to the UK. He called the three-way partnership a “really sensible solution,” adding, “I think it would be good to have another hub [BAE Systems facility in England] doing final assembly and test[ing] in the UK.”