France has finally signed a contract to purchase two Swedish GlobalEye AWACS aircraft for 12.3 billion kronor, or approximately €1.14 billion. However, they’ll have to wait until 2029.
The agreement between Saab and France’s defense procurement department includes ground equipment, personnel training, and support. An option to purchase two more aircraft also remains.
Delivery timeframes are scheduled for 2029-2032, meaning the French will have to use their aging E-3Fs for some time yet. However, these are generally expected timelines that previously manifested in orders for Sweden itself.
As a reminder, France announced its desire to acquire GlobalEye back in June this year, but signing a firm contract took another six months. To avoid additional delays or problems, everything was finalized in the final days of 2025. It’s quite likely we may now see Sweden order French FDI frigates (Frégate de Défense et d’Intervention). Such deepening cooperation between countries was mentioned back in late November.
French Aerospace Force Boeing E-3F Sentry / Photo credit: Cjp24
Regarding the GlobalEye aircraft themselves, thanks to unstable relations with the U.S., they’ve gained an additional wave of popularity. Of course, there are no firm deals yet, but Germany names them as the main candidate for its own procurement.
Also, thanks to the Pentagon’s antics with canceling and restoring the E-7 Wedgetail, NATO is also seeking a new AWACS capability, where the Swedish aircraft may again be the main candidate. However, other competitors like L3Harris will try to compete here too.
Swedish Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning aircraft / Photo credit: Saab
Other Saab products like Gripen E fighters are also benefiting from the NATO situation besides Ukraine, theyre being actively promoted to Canada with localization. The fact that GlobalEye is manufactured based on Canadian Bombardier business jets could help here.
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