It was a busy week for Swedish diplomats and politicians..On Tuesday June 28th, the leaders of Sweden and Finland met with the Turkish president and signed a trilateral memorandum. Sweden and Finland are both European Union members that have long collaborated with NATO as neutral partners. Addressing Turkish security concerns was the final barrier to full NATO membership..On Wednesday June 29th, Sweden and Finland were officially invited to become full NATO members..On Thursday June 30th, the Swedish military announced a 7.3 billion krona ($920 million CAD) order for two new Saab/Bombardier GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft. The contract includes options for two additional aircraft..The GlobalEye is based on the Bombardier Global 6000 business jet. The jets will be made by Bombardier in Toronto and flown to Sweden where Saab will install numerous military systems. The GlobalEye features Saab’s Erieye Extended Range active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. This radar uses the latest gallium nitride technology and is capable of tracking stealth jets and drones from more than 550 kms away..Saab’s president and CEO, Micael Johansson said of the announcement: “GlobalEye will provide Sweden with world-class airborne early warning and control capability. Saab’s most important mission is to keep people and societies safe, and I am proud that GlobalEye will further strengthen the Swedish Armed Forces’ capability.”.The United Arab Emirates have ordered five GlobalEye aircraft. The Saab/Bombardier GlobalEye – and its sub-hunting twin the Swordfish – is considered a frontrunner in Canada’s Multi-Mission Aircraft procurement that will replace the aging CP-140 Auroras in the mid-2030s..Saab had bundled two GlobalEye jets with their unsuccessful offer of Gripen-E fighter jets to replace Finland’s F/A-18 Hornets. While initially applauded as an innovative bundle, it resulted in negative mistranslated press when Finland announced Lockheed Martin’s F-35A as the winner..Finnish officials explained that the Lockheed Martin bid had similar upfront and total ownership costs to the two other finalists: Saab and Boeing. Numerous western sources incorrectly reported this as 64 Gripen-E jets costing as much as 64 F-35A jets..The GlobalEye would have been the largest and most expensive aircraft in the Finnish Defence Forces. If Saab had only bid with the Gripen, then it could have offered Finnish taxpayers savings of nearly $1 Billion CAD on the upfront cost and a considerable total cost of ownership advantage. Lockheed Martin’s goal is to get the F-35A’s cost per flight hour down to $25,000 (2012 USD) once it becomes fully operational. The comparable cost per flight hour on the Gripen-E is less than half at $11,425 (2012 USD)..Sweden and Canada are similar when it comes to historic defence spending. Both nations spent less than 1% of GDP on defence in 2015 and both spend around 1.3% today. However, unlike the current Trudeau Government in Canada, Sweden has a credible plan to reach NATO’s 2% of GDP target by 2028..Sweden’s new GlobalEyes will be considerable force multipliers for the NATO alliance when they are delivered in 2027. Canada should consider following Sweden’s example by purchasing our own Toronto-made GlobalEye aircraft..Alex McColl is a Columnist for the Western Standard based in Calgary, Alberta. He has a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Calgary.
