France has declared plans to acquire Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning platform to replace the country’s aging Boeing E-3F Sentry fleet.
Paris plans to acquire two of the Bombardier Global business jet-based platforms, with options for a further two, Saab declared on the third day of the Paris Air Show.
The acquisition plans follow the signing of a cooperative road map between the French and Swedish governments around aerial surveillance, beyond-visual-range, air-to-air missiles and future warships.
France’s defense procurement agency DGA and Saab signed a joint declaration of intent for the aircraft, and a contract will be finalized in the coming months, Saab says.
“We welcome today’s announcement by France about the intention to procure GlobalEye,” said Micael Johansson, president and CEO of Saab. “Our solution will enable France to maintain full sovereign control of its airborne early warning and control capability.”
Until now, the European airborne early warning replacement market had been dominated by Boeing’s E-7, with the UK and NATO choosing the 737 derivative to replace their E-3 fleets.
But France had been actively seeking a European-developed solution and began studying the platform as a potential E-3 replacement in January 2024. This was after Paris and Stockholm signed a declaration of intent on future cooperation in air surveillance and air defense.
The GlobalEye uses Saab’s Erieye ER surveillance radar mounted atop the Global 6500 business jet. The platform was originally developed for the United Arab Emirates, which now operates five of the aircraft. The type has been subsequently adopted by Sweden, which has three on order. The type is also being actively promoted elsewhere.
