Saab's GlobalEye jet visits France amid rumoured acquisition plans
Saab sent one of their GlobalEye AEW&C jets to a special unit in France amid rumours of a potential acquisition to replace the French E-3F AWACS aircraft
Earlier this month, a GlobalEye jet spent five days in France to (likely) showcase its capabilities to the French military. The visit comes amid rumoured French plans, and potentially ongoing negotiations, to acquire the airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) bizjet as a replacement for the ageing E-3F AWACS aircraft. Currently, the United Arab Emirates is the only operator of the platform. Sweden is set to take delivery of two GlobalEye jets in 2027 and more potential operators have shown interest in the platform in the last few years. It now increasingly appears France is also considering the GlobalEye jet to fulfil its (future) airborne early warning and control needs.
The GlobalEye jet that visited France flew from Linköping Airport, which is co-owned by Saab, in Sweden to Mont-de-Marsan Air Base (BA118) in the southwest of France on April 1. In the three days that followed, the jet flew several missions above France (see overview below). While the details of the visits are unclear, the GlobalEye jet operated out of the air base used by the Centre d’Expertise Aérienne Militaire, more widely known as CEAM. The special unit is tasked with the development and testing of new or upgraded systems for the French Air Force. CEAM testing the GlobalEye platform, or (parts of) its sensor suite, would align with rumours about France considering acquiring GlobalEye jets to replace its fleet of E-3F AWACS aircraft. Earlier this year, France’s President Macron visited Sweden and signed a strategic partnership. Unverified rumours in French media stated that the two countries had active negotiations regarding the GlobalEye platform, but official statements did not go into detail and the public declaration of intent signed by the two countries only mentions cooperation in ‘‘the area of air defence and surveillance systems.’’
The specific airframe used for the visit to France (reg. SE-RMV) is currently still owned and operated by Saab but is destined to become the fifth and final GlobalEye jet of the UAE Air Force. The United Arab Emirates is currently the only operator of the GlobalEye platform with three in operational use and two more scheduled for delivery in 2025. The Swedish Air Force is set to take delivery of two GlobalEye jets in 2027, which would make the country the second operator and the first European country to do so. In addition to France as a potential future operator, Saab also presented the GlobalEye jet to Greece for their AEW&C program. Canada has recently published their commitment to acquire AEW&C aircraft as well, but specific platforms or requirements were not mentioned.
France currently operates four E-3F AWACS aircraft, which are easily recognisable by the iconic circular radome on top of the fuselage. Like France, NATO also operates a fleet of E-3 AWACS aircraft. In November 2023, NATO announced six E-7 Wedgetail aircraft will replace its fourteen AWACS aircraft after nearly forty years of service. The E-7 Wedgetail is based on the Boeing 737NG and was also selected by the United Kingdom, Turkey, and the United States (and other operators) as their primary AEW&C platform.
However, it appears that France is considering the GlobalEye platform to replace their thirty-year-old AWACS aircraft instead. Saab’s GlobalEye is based on the Bombardier Global 6500 bizjet. The AEW&C jet has an operational endurance of more than eleven hours and is equipped with various sensor suites. Most noticeable is the large Erieye ER (Extended Range) AESA radar mounted on top of the fuselage. This primary sensor, which is designed to work in clutter and jamming conditions, has a range of 450 km (280 mi) at an operating altitude of 30,000 ft and 550 km (340 mi) at 35,000 ft. The radar system has also been mounted on other platforms, such as the Embraer R-99 jet and the Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. In addition to the airborne early warning radar, the GlobalEye jet is equipped with the Seaspray 7500E maritime surveillance radar. Next to its maritime surveillance capabilities, the radar system also has SAR (ground imaging) and Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) capabilities. To supplement these two radar systems, the GlobalEye platform is also equipped with an electro-optical/infrared sensor underneath the forward fuselage and an ELINT system (click here for more information on these capabilities).
These capabilities, the (relatively) short delivery timeframes, and the fact that GlobalEye is a European product make it an attractive platform for the French Air Force. However, while GlobalEye has a long operational endurance (or long range), it cannot be refuelled mid-air. As the French Air Force operates a fleet of tanker aircraft, this aerial refuelling capability of the current E-3F AWACS would be beneficial for a potential AWACS replacement, such as the E-7 Wedgetail. During the competition for the Royal Air Force’s E-3 replacement program, a joint Airbus-Saab team proposed an A330-based AEW&C aircraft with Saab’s Erieye radar. While not selected, it does show that the radar system used by the GlobalEye jet can be housed by various platforms, including larger aircraft that can be refuelled mid-air or other bizjet-based platforms. That said, the French AWACS replacement program is still in the very early stages and very little is (publicly) known. The only indication for a timeframe of the replacement program is sometime in the 2030s, according to strategy plans of the French Ministry of Defence.
Conclusion
The visit of Saab’s GlobalEye AEW&C jet to France adds to the rumours of potential acquisition plans to replace the French fleet of E-3F AWACS aircraft in (likely) the 2030s. During a recent state visit, Sweden and France signed a declaration of intent to cooperate on air surveillance systems and reportedly held active negotiations on the GlobalEye platform. However, there is very little known about the replacement program for the French E-3F AWACS aircraft. If France ends up selecting the relatively new GlobalEye platform, it would make the country the third operator of the type and the second European country to acquire the AEW&C bizjets. Sweden having selected the GlobalEye jet (and already operating SIGINT bizjets) and more European countries considering the bizjet-based AEW&C platform highlight the benefits of bizjet-based platforms for military ISR and AEW&C missions. This trend is only set to continue as Europe and its allies shift to (near-)peer threats and modernize its military forces.
Thank you
Thank you to @FrenchTrackers on Twitter/X for the help and thank you for reading this post! As always, feel free to reach out with your thoughts, questions and/or suggestions for future posts. If you have information or photos, you can always contact me via DMs (@bizjetsofwar on all platforms) and/or send an email (see the About page). You will always stay anonymous and the information/photos will not be shared without explicit approval, but please do not send information you are not allowed to share.