Swedish company Saab has delivered the fifth GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft to the United Arab Emirates Air Force.

Defence Industry reported on this.

The delivery of this aircraft marked the completion of a contract between Saab and the UAE Ministry of Defence for the supply of five aircraft of this type.

Currently, under the contract, Saab specialists will support the GlobalEye fleet.

Swedish company Saab started delivering GlobalEye aircraft in 2020 and has delivered five aircraft in four years to replace Saab 340s in the Swedish Air Force.

“In close partnership with the UAE Air Force, Saab has developed, produced, and delivered a fleet of five state-of-the-art GlobalEye aircraft, all in a period of less than ten years. This further reinforces Saab’s position as a leading provider in the airborne early warning and control segment,” Carl-Johan Bergholm, Head of Saab’s Business Area Surveillance, said.

The United Arab Emirates initially ordered Saab 340 aircraft from Saab, which were equipped with the Erieye system and configured as long-range radar detection aircraft.

In 2020, these aircraft were retired from the Air Force and purchased by Saab for restoration, repair, modernization, and resale to the country of interest.

Three years later, in June 2023, the former UAE aircraft were resold to the Polish Air Force, and in 2024, both aircraft were delivered to the customer.

Militarnyi previously reported that the Polish Armed Forces received the second 340 AEW long-range radar detection and control aircraft from Swedish company Saab.

The contract for two aircraft was signed in July 2023. Its value is estimated at SEK 600 million, or about $58 million.

Saab has overhauled the aircraft and radar equipment, after which it was officially presented to Polish representatives and the media in September 2023.

The first aircraft, with tail number 3401, arrived in Poland in March 2024 and joined the Gdynia Naval Aviation Brigade.