Canada\u2019s aerospace industry could be in for windfall with news that NATO has selected a new fleet of airborne warning planes based on Canadian aircraft outfitted with Swedish technology.<\/p>\n
The French defence publication La Lettre and the German press agency DPA are reporting NATO\u2019s Support and Procurement Agency selected Sweden\u2019s Saab and Canada\u2019s Bombardier<\/a> to replace the alliance\u2019s current fleet of U.S.-built airborne warning and control aircraft.<\/p>\n The selected GlobalEye aircraft<\/a> is based on the Bombardier Global 6000 or 6500 airframe and comes outfitted with Saab\u2019s extended range radars and other systems.<\/p>\n A NATO purchase of GlobalEye could help spark further export sales of the plane. The United Arab Emirates is currently flying the aircraft. Sweden and France have also placed orders.<\/p>\n Saab has also offered to build the GlobalEye and its Gripen fighter jet in Canada if the Liberal government purchases the surveillance plane as well as its fighter jet. Saab is promising such acquisitions would create up to 10,000 jobs.<\/p>\n NATO\u2019s Support and Procurement Agency has not officially announced a GlobalEye purchase. It did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Bombardier referred requests for comment to Saab.<\/p>\n Saab official Mattias R\u00e5dstr\u00f6m said the company has seen the news reports about the selection of GlobalEye. \u201cI can confirm that we have provided information to them (NATO) but we have not signed a contract or received an order from NATO for GlobalEye,\u201d he said in an email to the Ottawa Citizen.<\/p>\n NATO is looking to replace the alliance\u2019s older fleet of E-3A Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft that had been built by U.S. firm Boeing.<\/p>\n In November 2023, NATO awarded a sole-source contract to Boeing to replace the older planes with the E-7A Wedgetail. But there have been ongoing issues with that plane.<\/p>\n The Royal Canadian Air Force has also launched a new project to acquire an Airborne Early Warning and Control fleet of planes. The Department of National Defence website for the project lists the cost at more than $5 billion<\/a> and initial delivery of the first planes in 2037.<\/p>\n But in an April 8 briefing in Ottawa, the RCAF told industry representatives that the service hopes to have the aircraft arriving between 2031 and 2032. Initial operational capability would be set for 2035, according to the briefing.<\/p>\n It remains to be seen whether any NATO selection of Saab\u2019s GlobalEye would have an impact on the Liberal government\u2019s decision on a future fighter jet for the RCAF.<\/p>\n In 2023, the Liberal government announced it was purchasing 88 F-35 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin in the U.S.<\/p>\n But Prime Minister Mark Carney\u00a0ordered\u00a0a review of the F-35 purchase<\/a>\u00a0in mid-March 2025 in the wake of threats against Canadian sovereignty by U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n At this point, the federal government has only committed to buy 16 F-35s. Carney will be making the final decision on whether to proceed with the additional purchase of another 72 of the stealth fighters, but it is unclear when that will happen.<\/p>\n Saab\u00a0has offered Canada the Gripen fighter jet as an alternative<\/a>\u00a0to the F-35.<\/p>\n On Jan. 28,\u00a0the National Post reported<\/a>\u00a0the Liberal government was considering purchasing 40 F-35s in total and complementing those with the purchase of as many as 80 Gripens. Government officials are examining Saab\u2019s proposal to build both GlobalEye and the Gripen aircraft in Canada.<\/p>\n Defence Minister David McGuinty said on Monday, April 27, that the government is still reviewing the F-35 deal. But McGuinty, who backs the full purchase of the F-35 from the Americans, acknowledged that one of the options being looked at is the acquisition of another aircraft.<\/p>\n The fighter jet file is an extremely sensitive one for the Carney government, and the Canadian Forces has been trying to limit the amount of information the public is told about the F-35 deal.<\/p>\n The RCAF and DND refused to answer questions from the Ottawa Citizen about recent payments made for the systems and parts that will be used to build another 14 F-35s for Canada. CBC News first reported details of those payments on Feb. 10.<\/p>\n