At the NATO summit held in Ankara, Turkey, on 7–8 July 2026, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that the Alliance would begin formal negotiations with Saab regarding the potential purchase of up to ten GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) systems.
Saab has not yet signed a contract or received an order relating to the announcement. However, NATO has recognised the need to replace its current AEW&C capability as part of a broader initiative to modernise and enhance its surveillance and situational awareness capabilities. The announcement by the NATO Secretary General confirms that Saab’s GlobalEye has been selected as the solution to meet this requirement.
NATO’s current airborne early warning capability is provided by the Boeing E-3A Sentry, which has served with the Alliance’s Airborne Early Warning and Control Force for more than four decades. Operated by multinational crews drawn from NATO member states, the aircraft have been responsible for monitoring and protecting Allied airspace while also supporting NATO operations beyond Europe. However, with the ageing Boeing 707 airframe becoming increasingly difficult to maintain and operational requirements continuing to evolve, the Alliance has long been searching for a successor through its Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) programme.
“We are honoured and proud to support NATO in its next-generation AEW&C capability. We are confident that GlobalEye is the right choice for the Alliance, delivering proven capability, adaptability and long-term operational advantage. Today’s announcement clearly positions GlobalEye as the world-leading solution for advanced airborne early warning and control. We look forward to the next steps in the negotiations,” said President and CEO of Saab, Micael Johansson.
Unlike the Boeing E-3 Sentry, which was primarily designed to provide airborne surveillance as well as command and control, GlobalEye is a multi-domain surveillance platform capable of simultaneously monitoring the air, maritime and land domains. Built on the Bombardier Global 6500 business jet, it combines Saab’s Erieye Extended Range radar with an advanced suite of sensors and an onboard multi-domain command and control system to provide commanders with a comprehensive operational picture across the battlespace. The system delivers long-range detection with high update rates and is capable of identifying stealthy and other low-observable threats, including drones as well as ballistic and hypersonic missiles, even in challenging environments characterised by heavy clutter and electronic jamming.
In addition to the Erieye ER radar, the integrated sensor suite includes a maritime surveillance radar, an electro-optical sensor, electronic support and intelligence (ESM/ELINT) systems, an Automatic Identification System (AIS), and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF)/ADS-B capabilities. Working together, these systems enable operators to detect, identify and track threats across the air, maritime and land domains while rapidly switching between surveillance tasks or conducting multiple missions simultaneously.
As an AEW&C system, the GlobalEye provides long-range detection with high update rates. Its adaptive active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is designed to operate effectively in severe clutter and electronic jamming while focusing its energy on selected areas or targets of interest. The system is capable of detecting stealthy and other low-observable threats, including drones, ballistic and hypersonic missiles. Complementing the primary radar, the maritime surveillance system can detect even very small surface contacts, while the aircraft’s ground surveillance capability enables the long-range detection of moving targets and weather-independent radar imaging over the battlefield.
Following the announcement by NATO Secretary General, the Swedish company will now enter formal negotiations with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) with the aim of securing a contract.
If you would like to find out more about the Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft, which currently form the backbone of NATO’s AEW&C capability, please take a look at our article 45 years of Boeing E-3 Sentry – a brief history of AWACS.
Additional information about the Saab’s GlobalEye can be found in Saab and CAE launch global AEW training collaboration and Saab signs GlobalEye AEW&C contract with France.
Cover photo: GlobalEye AEW&C aeroplane in flight. ©Saab
The Saab company press materials were used.
