NATO will buy 10 GlobalEye surveillance aircraft from Bombardier and Saab to replace its ageing Boeing AWACS fleet, with Belgium among the 12 participating countries.
Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the plans on Tuesday. He said the new aircraft would allow NATO to monitor air, sea and land from a single platform, giving military commanders a broader and more integrated picture of the battlefield.
The system is designed to detect, track and identify threats including drone swarms, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA) said 12 NATO countries would jointly purchase the 10 aircraft.
Alongside Belgium, the coalition includes Canada, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Spain and the Czech Republic.
UAEAF GlobalEye at Dubai Airshow in 2021. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
GlobalEye is an airborne early warning and control aircraft equipped with active and passive sensors for long-range detection and identification of objects in the air, at sea and on land.
The system combines Saab’s radar and mission equipment with Bombardier’s Global 6500 business jet platform.
Saab said in a press release that no contract has yet been signed and no order has been placed. The company said it would now enter formal negotiations with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency to secure a contract.
NATO had originally planned to buy Boeing E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, but abandoned that option after the US government withdrew from the programme.
The alliance currently operates a fleet of 14 Boeing 707-based AWACS aircraft, some of which are nearly 40 years old. The aircraft have been used in all major NATO missions.
