Saab 340 Airborne Surveillance & Control (ASC) for Ukraine
On 29 May 2024, the Swedish government announced that it will donate USD 1,2 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonsson said that the donation includes air defence, artillery ammunition and armoured vehicles, but also two Saab S100D Airborne Surveillance & Control (ASC) aicraft. These aircraft would complement and reinforce the donations of F-16 fighter jets.
It has not been reported when the ASC aircraft will go to Ukraine. Currently, Sweden relies on two S100D and two S102B Korpen Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) modified Gulfstream IVs for their Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) capability.
On 30 June 2022, Saab announced that the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) had placed an order for two S106 GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft, with an option for two more. The aircraft are to be delivered in 2027.
Jonsson said that the donation of the two ASC aircraft means “a temporary decline in the Swedish defence capability. This means that they will be delivered before the first GlobaEye AEW&C aircraft enter service.
Sweden once operated a fleet of six S100B/D ASC aircraft. Four of these were sold, with two aircraft going to Thailand in 2012 and two to the United Arab Emirates in 2011. The last two returned to Sweden in December 2020 and were sold to Poland. The two remaining aircraft, S100D 100003 and 100004 are operated by the 74 Special Avn Squadron aty Linköping-Malmen.
Credit photo: Andrew Jewson (Scramble Archive)