{"id":3544876,"date":"2026-07-03T10:55:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T08:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/nato-saab-globaleye-replace-e-3-awacs-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T11:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:25:08","slug":"nato-saab-globaleye-replace-e-3-awacs-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/nato-saab-globaleye-replace-e-3-awacs-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO&#8217;s Next Radar Jet Is Swedish"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<p>For 44 years, the deep rumble of Boeing E-3A Sentries out of Geilenkirchen has been the sound of NATO watching its own skies. Now, according to a Reuters report published on 2 July, the alliance is preparing to hand that job to a jet from a country that only joined NATO in 2024: Sweden.<\/p>\n<p>Reuters, citing people familiar with the plans, reports that NATO intends to replace its ageing AWACS fleet with the Saab GlobalEye &mdash; and that the announcement could come as soon as next week&rsquo;s summit in Ankara on 7&ndash;8 July. NATO did not respond to requests for comment, and Saab declined to comment. If confirmed, it would be one of the most consequential European defence procurement decisions in years &mdash; and a pointed one, days after Washington&rsquo;s renewed push for allies to buy American.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 24px;margin:24px 0;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts: NATO&rsquo;s AWACS Succession<\/p><table style=\"border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px;line-height:1.5\"><tbody><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;font-weight:600;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top\">Current fleet<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0\">14 Boeing E-3A Sentries, based at Geilenkirchen, Germany, flying since 1982<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;font-weight:600;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top\">Retirement<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0\">Planned around 2035<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;font-weight:600;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top\">Reported successor<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0\">Saab GlobalEye, per Reuters (2 July 2026, citing sources)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;font-weight:600;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top\">Platform<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0\">Bombardier Global 6000\/6500 business jet, fitted with Saab&rsquo;s Erieye ER radar<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;font-weight:600;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top\">Earlier reporting<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0\">10&ndash;12 aircraft at roughly \u20ac550M each considered (Defense News, April 2026)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;font-weight:600;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top\">GlobalEye operators<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0\">UAE (5 delivered), Sweden, France and Canada on order or planned<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">How the E-7 Fell Out of the Race<\/h2>\n<p>The strange part of this story is that NATO already picked a successor once. In November 2023 the alliance selected six Boeing E-7A Wedgetails &mdash; without a tender &mdash; with the first aircraft due to be operational by 2031. Then the ground shifted: in June 2025 the Pentagon cancelled the US Air Force&rsquo;s own E-7 programme in its FY26 budget plan, favouring space-based sensors and more E-2D Hawkeyes. By November 2025, the NATO partner nations had walked away from the six-jet Wedgetail buy too.<\/p>\n<p>That left a hole in the heart of European air surveillance &mdash; and an opening for Saab. The GlobalEye pairs the Erieye ER radar, with a published detection range of more than 550 kilometres, with a long-endurance Bombardier Global 6000\/6500 airframe whose business-jet lineage traces back to the Global Express that first flew in 1996.<\/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=1992869086997418309&theme=light\" style=\"width:100%;height:400px;border:none;overflow:hidden\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A European Answer to a European Gap<\/h2>\n<p>The momentum behind GlobalEye has been building for months. The UAE has flown the type since 2020 and has taken delivery of five. Sweden has three on order, accelerated after donating two of its older ASC 890 radar aircraft to Ukraine. France signed for two in December 2025, with options for two more. And Canada &mdash; in what would be the largest order so far &mdash; has announced plans for six, with Prime Minister Mark Carney promising to build them in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Under earlier reporting by Defense News in April, NATO&rsquo;s support agency had studied a fleet of ten to twelve aircraft at roughly 550 million euros apiece &mdash; a programme worth over five billion euros that would reportedly make Geilenkirchen home to the world&rsquo;s largest GlobalEye fleet. The Reuters report gives no confirmed numbers, so those figures should be read as the shape of the deal, not its final print.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>The US withdrawal underscored &ldquo;the importance of investing as much as possible in European industry.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Gijs Tuinman<\/strong> &mdash; Dutch State Secretary for Defence, on the US E-7 withdrawal (Defense News, April 2026)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<p>Saab&rsquo;s chief executive Micael Johansson has been openly courting the alliance since the Wedgetail collapse, calling the original 2023 selection rushed and telling the Berlin Security Conference in November 2025 that SHAPE had concluded GlobalEye &ldquo;will fill a gap if you use it in a proper way,&rdquo; according to Breaking Defense.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Politics of the Radome<\/h2>\n<p>The timing is delicate. The decision would land days after Washington pressed NATO members to buy American, and while US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is trying to revive the E-7 on his side of the Atlantic &mdash; the House has backed a $1.55 billion effort to restore it. A Swedish jet watching NATO&rsquo;s skies from a German base would say something loud about where European defence procurement is heading.<\/p>\n<p>The old Sentries &mdash; Boeing 707 derivatives whose airframe first flew in 1957, powered by Pratt &amp; Whitney TF33 engines &mdash; are due to soldier on until roughly 2035. Whatever is signed in Ankara, their replacement now looks likely to wear a Swedish accent.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=2096836441  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/nato-e-3a-sentry-awacs-refueling.jpg\" alt=\"NATO E-3A Sentry AWACS refuelling\" style=\"display:block;width:100%;height:auto\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">One of NATO&rsquo;s 14 E-3A Sentries takes on fuel from a US 100th Air Refueling Wing tanker. The type has flown from Geilenkirchen since 1982. Photo: US Air Force<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Saab&rsquo;s own footage of the GlobalEye&rsquo;s first flight shows what the E-3&rsquo;s successor may look like in NATO colours:<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9T-o8veWIW0\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<p><em>Sources: Reuters; Defense News; AeroTime; Breaking Defense; Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine; Saab; Northrop Grumman<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45;user-select:none}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;font-weight:400;color:#5C91FF;line-height:1}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-item[open] summary{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f8}.mf-faq-item summary:hover{background:#f5f8ff}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}.mf-faq-answer a{color:#5C91FF}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What is the Saab GlobalEye?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Saab GlobalEye is a Swedish airborne early warning and control aircraft built on the Bombardier Global 6000\/6500 business jet and fitted with Saab's Erieye ER radar. It can track aircraft, ships and ground targets at once. In 2026 NATO was reported to have selected it to replace its ageing <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/awacs-e3-sentry-changed-air-warfare-desert-storm-airborne-radar\/\">AWACS fleet<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What is AWACS?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>AWACS stands for Airborne Warning and Control System \u2014 a radar aircraft that detects and tracks aircraft and missiles over long distances and directs friendly forces. The best-known example is the Boeing E-3 Sentry. AWACS gives commanders an elevated, wide-area radar picture that ground-based stations cannot match.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why is NATO replacing the E-3 Sentry?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>NATO's fleet of 14 Boeing E-3A Sentry AWACS aircraft, based at Geilenkirchen in Germany, has flown since 1982 and is due to retire around 2035. The airframes are ageing and costly to maintain. In 2026 Reuters reported NATO planned to replace them with the more modern Saab GlobalEye.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What aircraft is the GlobalEye based on?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Saab GlobalEye is based on the Bombardier Global 6000\/6500 ultra-long-range business jet, modified to carry Saab's Erieye Extended Range radar and mission systems. Using a business-jet platform gives it long endurance and lower operating costs than the large converted airliners used for earlier radar planes.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>When did Sweden join NATO?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Sweden joined NATO in 2024, ending more than two centuries of military non-alignment, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Its membership added industrial weight to the alliance \u2014 including Saab, whose GlobalEye radar jet was reported in 2026 as NATO's choice to replace its AWACS fleet.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the Saab GlobalEye?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Saab GlobalEye is a Swedish airborne early warning and control aircraft built on the Bombardier Global 6000\/6500 business jet and fitted with Saab's Erieye ER radar. It can track aircraft, ships and ground targets at once. 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In 2026 Reuters reported NATO planned to replace them with the more modern Saab GlobalEye.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What aircraft is the GlobalEye based on?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Saab GlobalEye is based on the Bombardier Global 6000\/6500 ultra-long-range business jet, modified to carry Saab's Erieye Extended Range radar and mission systems. Using a business-jet platform gives it long endurance and lower operating costs than the large converted airliners used for earlier radar planes.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did Sweden join NATO?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Sweden joined NATO in 2024, ending more than two centuries of military non-alignment, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Its membership added industrial weight to the alliance \u2014 including Saab, whose GlobalEye radar jet was reported in 2026 as NATO's choice to replace its AWACS fleet.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->\n\n<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\/jetflights\/awacs-e3-sentry-changed-air-warfare-desert-storm-airborne-radar\/\">How AWACS Changed Air Warfare: The Radar Plane That Gave One Side God&rsquo;s-Eye View<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/saab-gripen-e-ukraine-contract-signed-2026\/\">It&rsquo;s Official: Ukraine Is Getting 16 Gripen Es<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/gcap-uk-8-6-billion-sixth-gen-fighter-programme-2026\/\">GCAP Locked In: UK Pledges \u00a38.6 Billion for Sixth-Gen Fighter<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reuters reports NATO plans to replace its E-3 AWACS fleet with the Saab GlobalEye, with an announcement possible at the Ankara summit on 7-8 July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3544822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3544876","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 v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Saab GlobalEye to Replace NATO&#039;s E-3 AWACS Fleet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NATO looks set to replace its ageing E-3 AWACS fleet with Saab&#039;s GlobalEye \u2014 a \u20ac550M first step expected at the Ankara summit, a 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