NATO has selected Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft as the alliance’s future surveillance platform, with plans to potentially acquire up to 10 aircraft.
The announcement was made by Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, where he confirmed that negotiations would begin with Saab and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency to advance the procurement process.
The decision forms part of NATO’s broader modernization strategy to replace its aging airborne warning and control system fleet and enhance the alliance’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Built on the Bombardier Global 6500 business jet, the GlobalEye combines the Erieye Extended Range radar with a suite of advanced sensors and an integrated command-and-control system capable of tracking threats across the air, land, and maritime domains.
The platform is designed to identify a wide range of modern threats, including drones, stealth aircraft, ballistic missiles, and hypersonic weapons, while remaining effective in electronic warfare environments.
The Swedish government stated that the program is expected to support thousands of jobs in Sweden through activities such as development, production, systems integration, logistics, and advanced technology manufacturing over the life of the project.
The GlobalEye contract also expands Saab’s growing collaboration with NATO. In 2025, the company was selected to head the Mangrove consortium under the Allied Underwater Battlespace Mission Network program, which is focused on improving interoperability between crewed and uncrewed naval platforms. In addition, Saab secured a 63-million-euro ($67.6 million) NATO contract in February 2024 to provide AT4 man-portable anti-armor weapons through the Ammunition Support Partnership.
