{"id":30107117,"date":"2026-10-29T11:19:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/mq-9b-airborne-early-warning-saab-loyaleye-radar-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T11:19:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:19:58","slug":"mq-9b-airborne-early-warning-saab-loyaleye-radar-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/mq-9b-airborne-early-warning-saab-loyaleye-radar-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"MQ-9B Airborne Early Warning: Saab LoyalEye Radar Flies on a Drone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\n\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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Watching them at the same time, from long range, was not a big radar jet full of operators. It was a drone with no one on board.<\/p>\n\n<p>On Wednesday 28 October, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Saab announced that a company-owned MQ-9B carrying Saab's LoyalEye radar has completed advanced flight tests of an airborne early warning (AEW) system. The flights took place over recent months from GA-ASI's Desert Horizon flight operations facility in Southern California.<\/p>\n\n<p>It is a modest headline with a large idea behind it. Since the Second World War, airborne early warning has meant crewed aircraft, most of them big and expensive. MQ-9B airborne early warning promises something cheaper and longer-lasting, able to fly where crews should not.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Platform:<\/strong> GA-ASI MQ-9B, company-owned test aircraft<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Sensor:<\/strong> Saab LoyalEye AEW radar, carried in payload pods<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Announced:<\/strong> 28 October 2026 by GA-ASI and Saab<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Test site:<\/strong> GA-ASI Desert Horizon flight operations facility, Southern California<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Result:<\/strong> Simultaneous long-range tracking of several air and maritime targets, including instrumented red fighters and airliners<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight with pods:<\/strong> 19 May 2026<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Partnership announced:<\/strong> June 2025<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Likely customer:<\/strong> UK Royal Navy, whose Crowsnest helicopters are due to retire at the end of 2029<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the drone saw<\/h2>\n\n<p>The companies are careful with numbers. They give no detection ranges and no target counts. According to GA-ASI, the MQ-9B tracked several airborne and maritime targets simultaneously at long ranges, and the airborne targets included multiple instrumented red fighter jets and several commercial aircraft.<\/p>\n\n<p>Saab adds that the flights validated the system's ability to detect, track and classify airborne targets from an unmanned platform, in what it calls a representative operational scenario. Stakeholders were present and watched the picture build in real time.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"max-width:550px;margin:0 auto 28px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=2115458788396298295&theme=light\" style=\"width:100%;height:520px;border:none;overflow:hidden\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<p>GA-ASI's president did not hide his enthusiasm. The company says it is discussing unmanned AEW on the MQ-9B with several customers, without naming them.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;This has been one of the most highly anticipated flight tests we have performed. The level of customer interest in AEW capability on MQ-9B throughout the world is extremely high. It just makes sense.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>David R. Alexander<\/strong> &mdash; President, GA-ASI, press release, 28 October 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">MQ-9B airborne early warning: a radar in a pod<\/h2>\n\n<p>The MQ-9B is the larger, certifiable descendant of the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/mq-9-reaper\/\">MQ-9 Reaper<\/a>, sold as the SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian and flown by the Royal Air Force as the Protector. LoyalEye does not require a new airframe. It rides in payload pods: company renderings show one under each wing and a third on the centreline. The same aircraft can, in principle, carry surveillance or anti-submarine kit one day and early warning the next.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/mq-9b-airborne-early-warning-saab-loyaleye-radar-2026-img1.jpg\" alt=\"MQ-9B with Saab LoyalEye radar pods seen from below\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The MQ-9B test aircraft with its payload pods. The LoyalEye radar rides in pods, so no new airframe is needed. Image: GA-ASI via Saab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The programme has moved quickly. GA-ASI and Saab announced their partnership in June 2025, and the MQ-9B first flew with the AEW pods on 19 May 2026, again from Desert Horizon. Five months later the radar is tracking fighters. GA-ASI plans to offer the capability across its MQ-9B family, including the MQ-9B STOL short take-off version it is developing for aircraft carriers.<\/p>\n\n<p>Saab knows this market better than anyone in Europe. Its Erieye radar is the heart of the GlobalEye business jet, which has won fresh European interest this year. The companies have not said whether LoyalEye shares technology with Erieye. Saab presents LoyalEye as a complement to crewed AEW&amp;C aircraft rather than a rival, able to work alongside them or on its own.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 6px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r9PuHSC0EY0\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin:0 0 24px;font-style:italic\">GA-ASI's official video presenting the MQ-9B AEW concept with Saab.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why the Royal Navy is watching<\/h2>\n\n<p>The most obvious buyer for MQ-9B airborne early warning sits in Portsmouth. The Royal Navy's carriers rely on Crowsnest, a radar system carried by <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/aw101-merlin\/\">Merlin<\/a> HM2 helicopters, which is planned to leave service at the end of 2029. In May 2025, defence minister Maria Eagle told Parliament that the MQ-9 was being considered as a candidate for the Navy's Carrier Strike Airborne Early Warning requirement, and that the Navy had established the drone could be modified to fly from the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/mq-9b-airborne-early-warning-saab-loyaleye-radar-2026-img2.jpg\" alt=\"MQ-9B N555TN taking off with airborne early warning pods on their first flight in May 2026\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The MQ-9B lifts off from Desert Horizon on the AEW pods' first flight in May 2026. Image: GA-ASI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The logic is simple. A helicopter can only climb so high and stay up so long, and the alternatives, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/e-2-hawkeye\/\">E-2 Hawkeye<\/a>, need catapults the British carriers do not have. A long-endurance drone with a pod-mounted radar could hold a radar picture over the fleet for far longer, without putting an aircrew in the line of fire.<\/p>\n\n<p>Nothing is ordered yet, and a test over the Californian desert is a long way from a radar picture over the North Atlantic. Still, Saab's radar on an American airframe, with a British carrier as the likely first home, is a very European way to build airpower in 2026: allied, modular and, above all, persistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sources: GA-ASI (press releases 28 October 2026 and 21 May 2026, X), Saab (press release), The Aviationist, UK Defence Journal, Naval News, Unmanned Systems Technology<\/em><\/p>\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What is MQ-9B airborne early warning?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">MQ-9B airborne early warning is a pod-based radar system that turns General Atomics' MQ-9B drone into an uncrewed early warning aircraft. It uses Saab's LoyalEye radar, carried in payload pods. GA-ASI and Saab announced on 28 October 2026 that flight tests from Desert Horizon in Southern California had tracked several air and maritime targets at long range.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is Saab LoyalEye?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Saab LoyalEye is an airborne early warning radar developed by Saab for uncrewed aircraft, integrated with GA-ASI's MQ-9B in payload pods. Saab says it is designed to complement crewed AEW&amp;C aircraft such as its GlobalEye, working alongside them or on its own. Saab has not said whether LoyalEye shares technology with its Erieye radar.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What did the MQ-9B LoyalEye flight tests show?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">According to GA-ASI, the MQ-9B carrying LoyalEye tracked several airborne and maritime targets simultaneously at long ranges, including multiple instrumented red fighter jets and several commercial aircraft. Saab says the flights validated detection, tracking and classification of airborne targets in a representative operational scenario. Neither company published detection ranges.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the MQ-9B first fly with AEW pods?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The MQ-9B first flew with its airborne early warning pods on 19 May 2026, from GA-ASI's Desert Horizon flight operations facility in Southern California. GA-ASI and Saab had announced their AEW partnership in June 2025. The advanced flight tests with the LoyalEye radar were announced five months later, on 28 October 2026.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Will the Royal Navy use MQ-9B for carrier airborne early warning?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No decision has been made. In May 2025, UK defence minister Maria Eagle told Parliament that the MQ-9 was being considered as a candidate for the Royal Navy's Carrier Strike Airborne Early Warning requirement and could be modified to fly from Queen Elizabeth-class carriers. It would succeed the Merlin-based Crowsnest system, planned to retire at the end of 2029.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which MQ-9B versions can carry the AEW pods?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">GA-ASI says airborne early warning will be offered across its MQ-9B family: the SkyGuardian, the maritime SeaGuardian, the United Kingdom's Protector, and the MQ-9B STOL short take-off and landing version that GA-ASI is developing for naval aircraft carriers. GA-ASI says it is discussing the capability with several customers.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is MQ-9B airborne early warning?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"MQ-9B airborne early warning is a pod-based radar system that turns General Atomics' MQ-9B drone into an uncrewed early warning aircraft. It uses Saab's LoyalEye radar, carried in payload pods. GA-ASI and Saab announced on 28 October 2026 that flight tests from Desert Horizon in Southern California had tracked several air and maritime targets at long range.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is Saab LoyalEye?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Saab LoyalEye is an airborne early warning radar developed by Saab for uncrewed aircraft, integrated with GA-ASI's MQ-9B in payload pods. 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GA-ASI says it is discussing the capability with several customers.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nato-saab-globaleye-replace-e-3-awacs-2026\/\">NATO\u2019s Next Radar Jet Is Swedish<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/saab-globaleye-s-106-sweden-first-aircraft-unveiled-2026\/\">Saab GlobalEye: Sweden\u2019s First S 106 Radar Jet Unveiled<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/india-mq-9b-seaguardian-navy-lease-2026\/\">India Leases Two More Sea Guardian Drones<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/raf-protector-rg1-outdragon-sigint-akrotiri-2026\/\">Britain\u2019s New Spy Drone and Its Secret Pod<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story Somewhere over Southern California, instrumented &ldquo;red&rdquo; fighters played the enemy, airliners went about their business and ships moved at sea. Watching them at the same time, from long range, was not a big radar jet full of operators. It was a drone with no one on board. On Wednesday 28 October, General [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":30106579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30107117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>MQ-9B Airborne Early Warning: LoyalEye Flies | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MQ-9B airborne early warning takes shape: GA-ASI and Saab flight-test the LoyalEye radar, tracking fighters, airliners and ships from an uncrewed drone.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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