North American appetite for European AEW&C aircraft bolstered as Canada picks GlobalEye
The Canadian government has revealed plans to acquire Saab’s GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft. (Photo: Saab)
The competition and appetite for airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft in North America has increased in the past week, with Canada officially selecting Saab’s GlobalEye platform as its preferred supplier after the US U-turned earlier this month on its AEW&C selection of Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail.
On 27 May, Canada’s Defence Investment Agency confirmed it would enter discussions with Saab as its preferred AEW&C capability supplier – seeming to finalise a much sought-after programme requirement and side-lining competitors L3Harris and Boeing.
On the same day, Saab and CAE also announced the expansion of their partnership to support the Canadian AEW&C programme, signing a teaming
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