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Saab has completed the maiden flight of its fourth GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, having signed a five-aircraft commitment with launch customer the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The April 3 debut at the Swedish company’s Linköping base involved the Bombardier Global 6000-based airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform, which was undergoing “multiple tests related to the capabilities of the aircraft”, it said.
Unlike the three previous examples delivered by the UAE, the latest aircraft has a new antenna fairing added to each side of its forward fuselage. They are located under the windows under the front mounts of its Saab Erieye ER active electronically scanned array radar.
“With regard to specific customer aircraft, Saab does not comment on specific configurations,” the company said. “But our excellent in-house capabilities allow us to design, develop, produce and integrate new capabilities on GlobalEye,” it added.
“We are very pleased with the successful first flight of another GlobalEye,” said Carl-Johan Bergholm, Head of Saab’s Surveillance Business Unit. “This confirms that we have the necessary infrastructure, capabilities and expertise to deliver state-of-the-art AEW&C solutions to our clients in a time frame unmatched in the market.”
The UAE has received three GlobalEyes since 2020, with two more prototypes on order for delivery in 2024.
Sweden has also ordered an initial two, and Saab is also promoting the surveillance platform to meet future NATO requirements.
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