The Netherlands has signed a letter of intent with Sweden to acquire one Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, the Dutch Ministry of Defense and Saab announced on September 10, 2026.
The ministry expects the aircraft to be delivered in 2031. No contract has been signed, and Saab said it had not received an order from the Netherlands as of the announcement. Neither statement gave a cost, a signing date or the names of the signatories.
According to the ministry, the aircraft will be able to detect hard-to-spot threats such as drones and cruise missiles, identify radar installations, gather intelligence and act as an airborne command post.
Dutch crews to access Swedish GlobalEye fleet from 2028
The Dutch GlobalEye will be added to a joint pool with three Swedish GlobalEye aircraft, giving Dutch and Swedish crews access to whichever aircraft are available, the ministry said. Sweden ordered its third GlobalEye in June 2024.
Dutch crews are due to gain access to the Swedish aircraft from 2028, three years before the Dutch delivery. The ministry said this would allow crews to build experience with the aircraft and its procedures early, and let the Netherlands use the aircraft operationally from that point.
The two countries also plan to work together on the further development of the system.
National GlobalEye will complement NATO’s future fleet
The Netherlands has no aircraft of its own for the mission and relies in part on NATO’s Boeing E-3A Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet, which the ministry described as outdated. A national aircraft would let the Netherlands decide more independently where and when it is deployed, the ministry said.
The planned national aircraft comes on top of the Dutch share in NATO’s own E-3A replacement. On July 7, 2026, during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, the alliance announced that eleven allies, including the Netherlands and Sweden, would jointly procure GlobalEye as NATO’s new AWACS. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte put the planned buy at up to ten aircraft. The Dutch ministry refers to the Netherlands investing in that replacement alongside nine other allies.
Saab said it “stands prepared and awaits the next steps of the procurement process.” A Dutch contract would add the Netherlands to a GlobalEye customer list that includes the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, France and an undisclosed Middle East country, whose two-aircraft order Saab announced on July 27, 2026.