Summary and Key Points: Canada has selected Sweden’s Saab GlobalEye as its new Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced at the CANSEC defense show. Built on a Canadian-made Bombardier Global 6500 jet, the GlobalEye carries an Erieye radar that can track threats on land, sea, or air from 400 miles away — a priority as Arctic activity intensifies. The choice may also signal Canada scaling back its F-35 order in favor of Saab’s Gripen.
The F-35 Slash in Canada?
F-22 and F-35 and the Flag. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
US aerospace firms had been counting on sales to Canada to boost their fortunes amid rising production costs and an uncertain procurement environment stemming from the war in Ukraine. Both the F-35 fighter and the E-7 Wedgetail – along with the L3Harris Aeris X – have been under consideration for procurement by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
On 27 May at the opening of Canada’s annual CANSEC defense exhibition in Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the RCAF has selected Sweden’s Saab to supply it with a new Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) platform. The system, called GlobalEye, utilizes a new-generation Erieye on-board airborne surveillance radar and is installed inside a Canadian-made aircraft, the Bombardier 6500, which is also available in an executive jet variant.
The GlobalEye installs its respective radar and other sensors on the Global 6500 jets on the same Bombardier assembly line in Toronto. The selection of the Swedish platform by Carney’s government means a high level of Canadian content, which is always popular with local industry and labor organizations.
The air force of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) currently operates 5 of this type. In addition, France has two on order with two options, and the Swedish Air Force has three on order with one option. Denmark, Finland, and Poland are among the other nations seriously considering acquiring the GlobalEye.
Canada had initially discussed purchasing six GlobalEyes, but the ruling Liberal Party had made it clear in the 2025 electoral platform that it was “committed to acquiring Canadian-made Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft,” said Laurent Blanchard, spokesperson for Stephen Fuhr, the secretary of state responsible for military procurement.
“The government has undertaken a rigorous analysis of the options, moving the procurement forward much faster than usual,” he explained.
Pricing and Performance
“With a suite of advanced sensors and mission systems, Saab’s GlobalEye will be a key resource for the Canadian Armed Forces to detect and deter threats across the Arctic,” Carney told the CANSEC audience of defense industry contractors and military officials.
“It builds Canadian strategic autonomy, creates Canadian jobs and reinforces Canada’s position as a global leader.”
The GlobalEye has the advantage of being installed in a Canadian-made aircraft, said a former Saab executive who spoke to NSJ. “But then there is also the fact that the GlobalEye is a much more reasonably priced system.”
In 2023, NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) was looking for a replacement for the US E-3 Sentry AWACS platforms. The US Air Force (USAF) ultimately selected Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail over the GlobalEye. This order was later canceled in 2025, which now makes the GlobalEye a player in this competition again.
Canada’s concerns about surveillance in the Arctic have recently heightened, making the purchase of an AEW&C platform more urgent. The aircraft can track any object — land, sea, or air — at a distance of 650 kilometers (or 400 miles).
What This Means For the F-35 Sale to Canada
JAS 39 Gripen. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Saab has previously made a “packaged” proposal of the GlobalEye plus 72 or more of the Saab JAS-39E/F Gripen fighter aircraft. Saab has not only proposed the two platforms as part of a two-pronged procurement, but has also promised to transfer technology to the Canadian industry so both aircraft could be manufactured locally.
Conventional wisdom is that by procuring the GlobalEye, Canada may have taken a step towards scaling back its buy of F-35s – originally planned for 88 aircraft – to no more than 30 and then purchasing a large number of Gripens to fill the resulting gap in numbers.
The F-35 was originally sold to the RCAF on the basis that it would be the best option for the North American Air Defense (NORAD) joint US-Canada command.
But earlier this year, the NORAD commander, US Air Force General Gregory M. Guillot, told the US Senate that the advanced stealthy F-35 is not needed for this mission. “Frankly, we don’t need 5th [generation fighters] to defend our borders,” he told the US Senate.
Adding to the incentive for Canada to buy the Gripen is confirmation of a previously rumored decision that Bombardier could not only locally assemble all the RCAF JAS-39E/Fs, but also the aircraft announced this week for sale to Ukraine.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, with a specialization in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
