The Swedish aerospace & defense firm Saab AB has delivered its third GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Previous deliveries were made in April and September last year.
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The UAE has ordered a total of five GlobalEye aircraft; the rest of the two would be delivered by 2025. The country contracted Saab for the aircraft under its Swing Role and Surveillance System (SRSS) program and signed an initial deal for the three Bombardier-6000 based platforms in 2015.
Two more were added to the SRSS requirement in December 2020.
“Completing three deliveries of a solution as advanced as GlobalEye in less than a year proves Saab’s solid expertise as a provider of high-technology solutions and our focus on meeting our commitments, especially given the current circumstances,” says Micael Johansson, President & CEO of Saab.
“By handling the entire process, including sensor development and integration, we are uniquely in control of every critical part of this complex program.”
RELEASE: We have delivered the third GlobalEye aircraft. https://t.co/CYSZru8ZcX
— Saab AB (@Saab) February 20, 2021
The GlobalEye Aircraft
Saab’s GlobalEye is based on the Bombardier-6000 long-range commercial aircraft and is equipped with an advanced S-band Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Erieye-ER (extended range) radar system and a host of other active and passive electronic warfare and detection equipment.
The aircraft is used as an airborne early warning and control platform capable of detecting low-level threats (at 200ft) at distances exceeding 458 km (247 nautical miles) operating at 35000ft.
The system can detect aerial targets even in a severe electronically contested environment amongst clutters and jamming conditions. Its adaptive AESA radar can focus its energy on specific targets or areas of interest.
For maritime surveillance, it can detect sea targets out to the elevated horizon even down to the size of a periscope. Apart from its Erieye radar, the system also boasts an Automatic Identification System (AIS), Electro-Optical System (EOS), and (Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar) ISAR for identifying objects.
It can also track targets on the ground using its long wide-range Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) system and can get radar images in any weather condition. The aircraft has over 11 hours of endurance and can take off using smaller runways.
Saab is also offering its GlobalEye platform along with the Gripen E/F fighter jets for the Finnish HX fighter program.
