Saab GlobalEye has been selected by has been selected by NATO as the alliance’s next airborne warning and control system, in a major defence industry decision announced during the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday. The alliance will now open negotiations with Swedish defence group Saab to acquire up to ten aircraft, which are expected to replace part of NATO’s ageing Boeing E-3 AWACS fleet from around 2030.
GlobalEye will replace part of NATO’s ageing AWACS fleet
The new aircraft are intended to strengthen NATO’s air surveillance, early warning and command capabilities. According to NATO, the GlobalEye platform will support surveillance across air, land and sea from a single aircraft, improving the alliance’s ability to detect complex threats such as drone swarms, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
The aircraft will be based on Bombardier Global 6500 business jets, with Saab providing the GlobalEye surveillance and command system. The programme involves 11 NATO allies: Germany, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden.
NATO’s current airborne warning fleet is made up of Boeing E-3 aircraft, long based in Germany and operated as one of the alliance’s few commonly owned capabilities. The GlobalEye decision therefore marks both a technological upgrade and a politically significant choice for European and transatlantic defence cooperation.
Sweden’s defence industry gets a major NATO role
Swedish Prime Minister (statsminister) Ulf Kristersson described the announcement as an important moment for Sweden’s defence sector.
“Today is a great day for Sweden’s defence industry,” Kristersson said in a government statement, adding that NATO’s choice showed that Sweden “has a unique defence industry”.
The decision comes just over two years after Sweden formally joined NATO, and gives the country a central role in one of the alliance’s most visible surveillance programmes. Saab’s chief executive Micael Johansson said in Ankara that deliveries could begin in 2030 if NATO moves quickly to sign a contract.
Sweden has also ordered three GlobalEye aircraft for its own armed forces, with the first expected to be delivered in early 2027.
The contract is not signed yet
The announcement does not yet amount to a final contract. NATO has selected Saab’s system and will begin negotiations for up to ten aircraft. According to Johansson, the expected price is around $400 million to $450 million per aircraft, equal to roughly €340 million to €385 million. For ten aircraft, the total value would be about $4 billion to $4.5 billion (€3.4 billion to €3.9 billion).
The deal is expected to create hundreds of jobs in Sweden, particularly in Linköping and Gothenburg, where Saab has major operations. Johansson told Swedish public broadcaster SVT that he could not give an exact number, but said the project would mean “hundreds of new jobs”.
NATO is expanding shared surveillance capabilities
The GlobalEye decision was announced alongside other NATO industry initiatives at the Ankara summit, as allies seek to strengthen surveillance, airlift and drone capabilities. NATO also said allies would invest heavily in counter-drone systems and drone training, reflecting the rapid changes seen in modern warfare.
For Sweden, the announcement confirms its growing position inside NATO’s defence industrial landscape. For the alliance, it shows an effort to modernise shared air surveillance while relying on a platform built through European, Canadian and wider transatlantic industrial cooperation.
