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https://air-cosmos.com/article/remplace ... leye-68319France To Study GlobalEye As Potential E-3 Replacement
January 31, 2024
France is to study Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning (AEW) platform as a potential replacement for its Boeing E-3 Sentry as part of its renewed strategic relationship with Sweden. The two nations signed a declaration of intent on Jan. 31 to review future cooperation in air surveillance and air...
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https://meta-defense.fr/2024/01/30/saab ... ron-suede/Replacement of French AWACS: Swedish Saab pushes its GlobalEye
The Air and Space Force is working to replace its four AWACS aircraft.
Facing the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail,
the Swedish Saab offers its GlobalEye ordered by the United Arab Emirates and Sweden.
The replacement of French AWACS by 2030-2035
The question of replacing French AWACS has been raised for some time
and the Air and Space Force is working on it with a time horizon of 2030-2035.
While different scenarios are being studied, that of specific vectors has become even more acute since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Calendars have in fact been disrupted and the urgency of availability favors off-the-shelf and proven equipment.
Moreover, NATO made the choice, last November,
to replace its fleet of AWACS E-3A Sentry early warning aircraft still available
with six Boeing E-7A Wedgetails with a first example expected in 2031.
Boeing E-7A Wedgetail vs. Saab GlobalEye
The Boeing E-7A Wedgetail uses the increased mass version of the Boeing 737-700 as its platform,
while the solution proposed by the Swedish group Saab is based on the Bombardier Global Express 6000.
With a smaller cabin area than its competitor ,
the GlobalEye nevertheless allows for five operator consoles and a rest area for six people.
Without forgetting a “kitchen” corner.
Two valuable elements for carrying out missions that can last more than 10 hours.
Especially since the endurance of the GlobalEye displays 11 hours maximum without in-flight refueling,
one hour more than that of the E-7 Wedgetail.
With an Erieye active antenna radar whose detection range has been improved
to nearly 700 km for “large” combat aircraft and which is available depending on the size of the enemy.
Saab open to partnerships with the French BITD
With its various combined sensors and antennas (aerial, maritime, terrestrial detection, Sigint, Comint)
whose data is then merged and processed by "an AI layer" which helps sort the information according to the operator's task,
the GlobalEye " can serve the three armies and the interministerial",
underlines Marc Henry, director of government programs and industrial development at Saab France.
Versatility is indeed a good selling point in the process of budgetary decisions.
Without forgetting a much smaller logistical footprint in favor of GlobalEye.
And for its exploratory work, the Air and Space Force has no shortage of retex on both systems.
Australia has been operating the Boeing E-7 since 2010 and South Korea since 2012.
As for the Saab GlobalEye, the UAE Air Force has been operating it since 2020.
Feedback from other customers helps with decision-making ,
versatility also with regard to France's financial resources,
but the various actors of the French BITD will not fail to come forward (if this is not already the case/editor's note).
A fact that Saab took into account in its approach from the start,
especially since the platform used, the Bombardier Global Express 6000,
has a potential competitor to come, the Dassault Falcon 10 X.
Question of budget and schedule
The GlobalEye is currently offered with a SeaSpray Leonardo ventral radar and a FLIR Systems electro-optical ball, equipment also produced by Thales and Safran Electronics & Defense, respectively.
On the other hand, “the Erieye radar and the multi-domain command and control system [C2] are not negotiable”,
we emphasize on the Saab side.
As for changing platforms, it's all about budget and timing.
Taking the Falcon 10 X will indeed be more problematic.
The latter is not available unlike the Global 6000
and the engineering, validation, integration and certification work required will require significantly more money and time.
The first GlobalEye took a good five years of work, but the following ones are now available in 36 months from ordering to delivery.
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