Sweden’s Saab is urging Nordic countries to use its surveillance aircraft for joint patrols as the defence manufacturer seeks to benefit from Europe’s growing desire to reduce reliance on the US for its security as well as military equipment.
Industry and government figures said Saab, controlled by the Wallenberg family, was pushing its GlobalEye aircraft as the backbone of a joint surveillance effort between Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
One of many European defence contractors seeking to gain from the boost to military spending after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as US President Donald Trump’s wavering commitment to the continent, Saab is also expected to benefit from rising wariness about depending on US military products.
Saab chief executive Micael Johansson told the Financial Times there was “very big interest” in the four Nordic countries, which are now all members of the Nato alliance since Finland and Sweden joined in 2023 and 2024.
“How do we protect the Baltic Sea?” Johannson asked. “How do we look at the Arctic? Should we have a common capability on 24/7 surveillance in the Nordics? It is a natural step in Nato co-operation.”
Saab, the eighth-largest defence company in Europe, has an unusually broad product portfolio. Alongside surveillance aircraft including GlobalEye, whose main rival is Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail, it also builds fighters, submarines and sensors.
Mikael Grev, a former pilot of Saab’s Gripen fighter jets and now chief executive of Avioniq, a Swedish defence artificial intelligence company, said the distrust of the US was “definitely a chance” for Saab.
Grev said European contractors, including his own, would be trying to exploit the perception that future use of US suppliers’ equipment could be dependent on the whims of US policy.
“Not many more countries will make new contracts with the US because they need to have a more diverse supplier base,” he said. “It is stupid to put all your eggs in one basket.”
GlobalEye consists of a Bombardier Global 6000 or 6500 business jet converted to carry a 10-metre long Erieye radar, housing multiple sensors. Saab has sold five of the aircraft to the United Arab Emirates. Sweden has also bought three of the aircraft and any co-operation agreement is expected to ensure the country exercises an option it holds to order a fourth.
If the fourth option were exercised, Saab executives said, the fleet would be able to cover most of the Nordic region including the Arctic islands of Svalbard, Iceland and Greenland. GlobalEye is able to track targets in the air at a radius of 650km and on ground at 425km. It is sufficiently sensitive to track drones from as far away as 100km to 600km, depending on their size.
The four most-populous Nordic countries have a co-operation deal on fighter jets. Sweden contributes Saab Gripen aircraft to the effort, while Denmark, Finland and Norway all contribute F-35s built by the US’s Lockheed Martin.
Sweden’s defence minister Pål Jonson said that if other countries were interested in operating GlobalEye alongside his country, they would welcome it.
“The Nordic-Baltic co-operation is flourishing like never before,” Jonson said. “We’re all going to sink or swim together.”
Carl-Johan Bergholm, head of surveillance at Saab, insisted the technology in his product was about a decade ahead of that in the Wedgetail. However, Nato has chosen the Boeing product as its standard surveillance aircraft. The company believes Nato could use both Saab’s product and Boeing’s.
Saab’s efforts come as several Nordic countries debate how to tackle their surveillance challenge. Magdalena Andersson, leader of the centre-left Social Democrats, the largest party in Sweden’s parliament, in January said the country should talk to other Nordic nations about ordering a fourth GlobalEye.
A further aircraft would enable full monitoring of the region including Russian submarines and its shadow fleet of oil tankers in the Baltic Sea, Andersson said.
Anna Wieslander, northern Europe director for the Atlantic Council think-tank, said Sweden and Finland’s Nato accession had opened the possibility of much stronger regional air defence.
“If you take the missile side, the surveillance element and also the 240 modern fighter jets, you have three dimensions to create a solid shield over the Nordics,” Wieslander said.
She added that “deterrence by denial” — making an attack unlikely or unfeasible — was “so important to have with Russia”.
Surveillance is Saab’s biggest business, accounting for more than a third of its sales. Revenues for surveillance grew by a fifth last year to SKr22bn ($2.2bn) while its order backlog rose by a sixth to SKr53bn.
Saab can produce only a handful of GlobalEyes each year. It is currently working on separate tenders to supply surveillance aircraft to France, South Korea and Canada.
Officials from Finland and Denmark welcomed the idea for more Nordic co-operation. But major Anders Lander of the Norwegian military said Oslo was happy with the existing co-operation with Nato on surveillance.
Shares in the Swedish company have surged 70 per cent in the past month as investors have bet that increased defence spending in Europe would fill its coffers.
Johansson said that, alongside its efforts to promote GlobalEye, the company had to invest in a new, next-generation fighter jet as a successor to the Gripen.
Saab has to decide whether to develop any new aircraft alone, as it did with the Gripen, or in partnership with others.
However, Johansson said he was “very convinced” Sweden would not want to give up being one of the few EU countries able to build fighters independently.
“There is only us and France currently in Europe,” Johansson said. “Will it be more in a partnership perspective or like now? I don’t know.”
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