Saab has delivered the fourth GlobalEye AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) aircraft to the United Arab Emirates, the company has announced. The delivery took place on April 18, a little over a year since the aircraft made its first flight.
The airframe is the fourth of five presently ordered by the UAE. The country was the first user of the type, with its existence first publicised in 2015 when a contract for three aircraft was signed at the Dubai Air Show. A second contract, for a further two aircraft, was signed in December 2020.
"I am proud to celebrate the fourth delivery of our world-leading AEW&C solution GlobalEye to the UAE and to continue supporting its operational availability and mission success," Saab's president and CEO, Micael Johansson, said, according to a company release. "The high delivery pace in the GlobalEye programme is testament to our unique in-house capability which means we control the entire process, from development to integration."
The delivery - and the evidence it offers of Saab's ability to fulfil contracts on time - comes at a potentially helpful moment for the company, with several AEW programs ongoing, and a key competitor - Boeing's E-7 - apparently hit by cost increases. The most recent order for GlobalEyes was from Sweden, in 2022.
France appears to be considering the GlobalEye as a potential replacement for its Boeing E-3 Sentry fleet and the company is involved in a three-way competition with Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries for the Republic of Korea Air Force's E-X Phase 2 program. Canada's new defense plan, Our North Strong and Free, published early April, commits the country to renewing its AEW capability, and with the GlobalEye built around a Bombardier Global Express platform, the Saab product may offer some political advantages.
The fifth UAE GlobalEye is due to be delivered by the end of 2024. The Swedish Air Force's two aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2027. All these aircraft will be based on Bombardier Global 6000s, but any subsequent export models will be built around Global 6500s.
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