NATO Countries Choose Saab’s GlobalEye as their New Airborne Early Warning and Control System

On July 7, 2026, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit Defense Industry Forum in Ankara, the alliance announced that 11 member nations are teaming up to buy Saab’s GlobalEye aircraft as their new Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). These new jets will replace part of NATO's aging fleet of Boeing E-3 Sentry planes, giving the alliance’s surveillance and early-warning capabilities a major upgrade.

The GlobalEye is an advanced surveillance platform built by the Swedish defense firm Saab. It takes a Bombardier Global 6500 business jet and packs it with a high-tech sensor suite and an Erieye extended-range radar, which sits in a distinctive pod mounted right on top of the aircraft's fuselage.