NATO to confirm Swedish Saab GlobalEye selection over US planes at Ankara Summit despite Trump pressure.

NATO is preparing to officially select the Swedish Saab GlobalEye surveillance platform during the upcoming Ankara Summit on July 7–8 to completely replace its aging fleet of fourteen U.S.-built E-3A Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft. The strategic shift concludes a highly volatile procurement process triggered by the U.S. Air Force canceling its own Boeing E-7 Wedgetail acquisition roadmap, which destroyed the long-term lifecycle economics originally favored by the Alliance. By opting for a European-integrated multi-domain sensor architecture over traditional U.S. platforms, NATO establishes its first alliance-owned airborne surveillance fleet centered on distributed network processing.

The upcoming procurement at the Ankara Summit will transition NATO's primary airborne early warning capability away from forty-year-old Boeing 707 airframes to a modern fleet based on Canadian Bombardier Global business jets integrated with Swedish Erieye ER radar systems. This multi-domain acquisition represents the single largest order in the history of the GlobalEye program and will transition the historical operating hub at Geilenkirchen Air Base into the world's primary infrastructure center for the Swedish-designed platform, directly challenging the explicit demands of U.S. President Donald Trump for European allies to purchase more American-made military equipment.

Related topic: NATO eyes Swedish Saab GlobalEye to replace 14 E-3 AWACS planes in historic shift from the U.S.

Earlier reports suggest a possible NATO order of ten to twelve GlobalEyes, and estimates placed the unit cost near €550 million, implying an acquisition exceeding €5 billion before infrastructure, training, spares, software support and lifecycle sustainment are included. (Picture source: Saab)

On July 2, 2026, Reuters confirmed that NATO is expected to announce the selection of Swedish Saab GlobalEye during the 7-8 July Ankara Summit to replace its fleet of fourteen U.S. E-3A Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft (AEW&C). The decision, if confirmed, would conclude a procurement process that changed fundamentally over the past eighteen months and would reverse NATO's November 2023 decision to acquire six Boeing E-7 Wedgetails. It would also validate an information already revealed by La Lettre and Army Recognition in April 2026, while introducing the first Alliance-owned airborne surveillance fleet centred on a European mission system rather than a U.S.-made aircraft.

The acquisition would become the largest GlobalEye order ever placed, replace one of NATO's few commonly owned military capabilities, and end nearly four decades during which the Alliance's airborne warning fleet consisted exclusively of U.S. aircraft operating from Geilenkirchen Air Base in Germany. The AWACS procurement changed direction after the U.S. Air Force terminated its planned acquisition of twenty-six E-7 Wedgetails in June 2025. NATO had selected the E-7 in November 2023 because the programme appeared to offer a long production run supported by the largest expected operator, allowing development, software upgrades, depot maintenance and logistics costs to be distributed across a much larger fleet.

Once the United States withdrew, the economic basis of the E-7 lost much of its attractiveness for the Alliance. NATO therefore reopened the competition during early 2026, reassessing long-term sustainment costs, industrial risk, fleet size, upgrade potential and operational availability instead of simply comparing aircraft performance. Although the Pentagon later sought to restore funding for the E-7 under pressure from Congress, the Alliance had already begun evaluating alternative solutions. Four NATO sources have confirmed to Reuters that the AWACS replacement decision will be announced during the Ankara Summit, while Saab has declined to comment before formal confirmation. The 14 E-3A Sentry aircraft being replaced entered service between 1982 and the early 1990s and today form the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&CF), based permanently at Geilenkirchen and crewed by personnel from twenty-one of NATO's thirty-two member states.

Built on the Boeing 707 airframe, the E-3A remains capable of providing a common radar picture to allied air, naval and ground forces while directing combat aircraft during air operations. The fleet has supported operations over the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, security missions during the 2006 FIFA World Cup and major international summits, and continuous surveillance sorties over NATO's eastern flank since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The aircraft also retain an aerial refuelling capability, allowing prolonged patrols close to Eastern Europe. However, like the U.S. Air Force, maintaining an average forty-year-old fleet has become increasingly demanding for NATO because of structural ageing, obsolete avionics, diminishing availability of Boeing 707 components, longer maintenance periods and higher sustainment costs, reducing aircraft availability while increasing operating expenditure. 

The GlobalEye represents a different operational philosophy than the E-3A or the E-7 Wedgetail. The AWACS combines Saab's Erieye ER active electronically scanned array radar with the Bombardier Global 6000 or Global 6500 business jet, replacing the E-3's mechanically rotating rotodome with a fixed dorsal radar using electronic beam steering. Saab states that the Erieye ER can detect airborne targets beyond 550 km when operating at 35,000 ft, while the GlobalEye simultaneously conducts airborne surveillance, maritime surveillance and Ground Moving Target Indication missions. The mission suite also incorporates Leonardo's Seaspray 7500E maritime surveillance radar, electro-optical and infrared sensors, electronic support measures, satellite communications and secure data links.

Endurance reaches 11 hours under standard mission profiles and can extend to 13 hours, while the aircraft's ferry range exceeds 11,000 km. Unlike the E-3A, which normally carries thirteen to nineteen mission personnel in addition to the flight crew, the GlobalEye performs its surveillance mission with five operator stations through greater automation and network-based mission processing, allowing sensor information to be distributed directly across NATO command networks rather than processed primarily aboard the aircraft itself. Cost, industrial resilience and future fleet growth appear to have become as important as sensor performance during the competition. Earlier estimates indicated that NATO could acquire ten to twelve AWACS, with unit prices reported near €550 million, placing the procurement above €5 billion before infrastructure, training, spare parts and lifecycle support are included.

One factor still under consideration is whether the Alliance selects a more expensive aerial-refuelling configuration, preserving the long-endurance capability currently available with the E-3A fleet. A purchase of ten to twelve aircraft would immediately become the largest GlobalEye fleet worldwide. The programme also combines Swedish radar, mission systems and aircraft integration with Canadian-built Bombardier business jets instead of relying on a single U.S. prime contractor. This industrial structure has become increasingly attractive as more NATO members evaluate the aircraft, reducing dependence on a single U.S. supply chain while expanding opportunities for multinational maintenance and support. 

A NATO order would significantly expand the aircraft's international operator base. The United Arab Emirates currently operates five GlobalEye aircraft delivered between 2020 and 2024. Sweden has ordered three aircraft, with deliveries beginning in 2027 after accelerating the programme to replace Saab 340 AEW aircraft transferred to Ukraine. France signed a firm contract for two aircraft in December 2025, together with options for two additional systems, while Canada announced negotiations during CANSEC 2026 for six aircraft intended to strengthen Arctic surveillance and NORAD missions. Germany has publicly identified GlobalEye as its preferred solution, while Egypt, Denmark and Finland have also examined the aircraft.

A NATO procurement would therefore reinforce an expanding multinational fleet sharing the same radar architecture, mission system and support structure, while Geilenkirchen could become the world's largest GlobalEye operating base. The aircraft also aligns closely with NATO's Alliance Future Surveillance and Control concept, which emphasizes distributed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance networks integrating airborne, maritime, land and space-based sensors instead of relying on a single airborne battle-management aircraft. The expected announcement also comes amid renewed debate over transatlantic burden sharing and defence procurement.

On July 3, 2026, President Donald Trump described continued U.S. support for NATO at existing levels as "ridiculous" and argued that the relationship was "not reciprocal," while again urging European allies to assume greater responsibility for collective defence and purchase more American military equipment, even though recent cases such as delays and rising costs in F-35 deliveries and extended timelines for Patriot air defence systems have shown that increased European demand does not always works. Those remarks and facts create a politically sensitive backdrop for an Alliance decision that would replace its U.S.-built E-3 fleet with a Swedish-designed aircraft less dependent on the goodwill of the United States.

At the same time, the sequence of procurement decisions demonstrates that the expected outcome reflects changes in programme viability as much as industrial preference. NATO selected the E-7 while the U.S. Air Force planned to become its largest operator, but reopened the competition after that assumption disappeared, ultimately favouring an aircraft combining lower acquisition costs, reduced operating costs, multi-domain surveillance capability and a mature production base that continues to expand among European and North American operators. Also, paradoxically and ironically for the U.S., NATO would follow Trump's demand that allies assume greater responsibility for collective defense if the GlobalEye order is confirmed next week.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.

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