Saab Rolls Out Sweden’s First S 106 GlobalEye to Replace Surveillance Jets Pledged to Ukraine

Saab has rolled out the first S 106 GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft built for the Swedish Air Force, presenting the jet at its Linköping facility on October 15. The company and the Swedish Armed Forces announced the rollout jointly, with testing and verification now to precede a first flight and delivery to the air force planned for 2027. Defence Minister Pål Jonson said the introduction had been brought forward from Sweden’s December 2024 defence decision, which according to the security outlet Sejfer had not expected the aircraft before 2030. The acceleration highlights how significantly Stockholm’s priorities have shifted since it pledged its ageing ASC 890 surveillance aircraft to Ukraine, leaving a gap it has chosen to fill with a considerably more capable platform.

The rollout follows a contract signed by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration on June 30, 2022 for two GlobalEyes worth approximately SEK 7.3 billion, with options for two more. One of those options was exercised on June 27, 2024 for a third jet valued at about SEK 2.6 billion. That order came only weeks after the government announced a SEK 13.3 billion aid package on May 29 that included ASC 890 aircraft intended to support Kiev’s strained air defence network. Swedish officials acknowledged at the time that the transfer would temporarily reduce the country’s own capability. Saab chief executive Micael Johansson called the presentation “an important milestone for both Saab and the Swedish Armed Forces,” while Air Force chief Jonas Wikman stated: “The system gives us a genuine multi-domain capability that strengthens our ability to detect.”

The Swedish program has gained considerable weight from the choice made by NATO itself, with Secretary General Mark Rutte announcing at the alliance’s Ankara summit on July 7 that it would negotiate with Saab for up to 10 GlobalEyes. Those aircraft are intended to replace part of the ageing E-3A AWACS fleet, after the alliance abandoned its 2023 selection of the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail when Washington cancelled its own E-7 purchase in 2025. The decision comes as European air forces increasingly turn to their own industries for major aircraft programs. France ordered two GlobalEyes on December 30, 2025, and an unnamed Middle Eastern customer ordered two more on July 27 for SEK 10.1 billion, adding to the fleet of the type’s launch customer, the United Arab Emirates. Sweden is now expected to become the first NATO member to field the GlobalEye.

The GlobalEye pairs Saab’s Erieye ER active electronically scanned array radar with a maritime surveillance radar, an electro-optical sensor and ground moving target indication modes. All are carried on a Bombardier Global 6000 business jet, the same airframe as the Swedish Air Force’s TP 106 government transport. Saab states that the radar can detect low-flying threats beyond 400 kilometres from 35,000 feet, with an instrumented range of 650 kilometres and an endurance of 12 hours. The aircraft it replaces, the S 100D Argus, known for export as the ASC 890, carried an earlier Erieye radar on the twin-turboprop Saab 340 regional airliner, which is certified to operate no higher than 25,000 feet.