French media reports say NATO selected Saab to provide a replacement for Boeing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control jets.
Swedish airframer Saab says no contract has been signed covering the sale of airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to NATO, despite a report that the alliance had chosen Saab’s GlobalEye.
“We have noted the information in the media,” Saab’s vice-president of media relations Mattias Radstrom says. “It is up to NATO to comment on where they are in their procurement process. I can confirm that we have provided information to them but we have not signed a contract or received an order from NATO for GlobalEye.”
French digital news site La Lettre reported on 23 April that Saab’s GlobalEye aircraft has been chosen to replace NATO’s fleet of 14 Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control (AWACS) jets. Numerous other outlets picked up the story.
A NATO official reached by FlightGlobal declines to comment about the La Lettre report or to specifically address whether any decision has been made on sourcing a new AEW&C aircraft.
“The nations participating in the initiative to replace our existing AWACS fleet continue their work on this with the support of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency,” the official says, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Notably, Saab chief executive Micael Johansson also made no mention of a decision in Saab’s favour during a presentation of the company’s first-quarter earnings on 23 April.
“We have given information to NATO connected to the IAFSC [Initial Alliance Future Surveillance and Control] programme – let’s see what happens there, that’s an opportunity,” he said.
Johansson gave no indication a decision was expected imminently, nor did an executive from Saab’s rival L3Harris, who discussed the American company’s own AEW&C offering to NATO with FlightGlobal last week.
Both companies are offering modified Bombardier Global 6500 business jets equipped with powerful radars, sensors and communications arrays to detect and track airborne threats.
Boeing’s 737NG-based E-7 Wedgetail had been in pole position to secure the IAFSC contract with NATO, but the alliance walked back that commitment last year after senior US officials publicly expressed doubts about the platform and sought to cancel the US Air Force’s own acquisition.
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