Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) News and Discussions

S

swerve

Super Moderator
John Fedup said:
Not surprisingly, Canada has opened negotiations with Saab to acquire some GlobalEye jets. Saab should send Donald a thank you note for his sales assistance. :p

Canada negotiating to buy Saab's GlobalEye airborne early warning aircraft | CBC News
Click to expand...
"Saab should send Donald a thank you note for his sales assistance."

Not just SAAB. Delivery delays for other US weapons due to Trump's adventures have led to other decisions to buy non-US kit. I think MBDA has benefited, for example, & Sabena has a contract for Global 6000/6500 conversions for Globaleye, because SAAB wanted to speed up deliveries. Potential customers were asking for it, though I imagine Bombardier would convert Canadian ones. SAAB's already offered that.

I think he's still well behind Putin as a salesman for European defence businesses, though.
 
John Fedup

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
Vanquish said:
While I'm not disappointed with the choice of GlobalEye I didn't realize Canada had even put out a RFP or gone to Options Analysis Phase yet.
Click to expand...
Not sure on the RFP and Option Analysis but Kegsbreath put the E-7 off the rails (albeit it might return) so delivery would suck and GlobalEye is a concession to Sweden wrt the Gripen bid because I can't see that happening unless Trump really pisses off Canadian public opinion to the point where Carney feels vulnerable to a full F-35 purchase. The F-35 is the best choice (at the very least should be the larger fleet makeup if not 100%) but Trump could $uck things up...he excels at that.
 
V

Vanquish

Active Member
John Fedup said:
Not sure on the RFP and Option Analysis but Kegsbreath put the E-7 off the rails (albeit it might return) so delivery would suck and GlobalEye is a concession to Sweden wrt the Gripen bid because I can't see that happening unless Trump really pisses off Canadian public opinion to the point where Carney feels vulnerable to a full F-35 purchase. The F-35 is the best choice (at the very least should be the larger fleet makeup if not 100%) but Trump could $uck things up...he excels at that.
Click to expand...
I agree and the F-35 options will be fullfilled. Shame that TACO has made the choice so politically unpalatable.
 
S

swerve

Super Moderator
Vanquish said:
While I'm not disappointed with the choice of GlobalEye I didn't realize Canada had even put out a RFP or gone to Options Analysis Phase yet.
Click to expand...
Canada received proposals for the E-7, Globaleye & the L3Harris Aeris X.

L3Harris's proposal was the same as that to South Korea, where it won, IAI EL/W-2085 radar on Bombarider Global 6500, so SAAB's Canadian platform wasn't the decisive factor. It looks to me as if all the contenders met the performance criteria, & two met the preference for Canadian content, but the final decision was made on other grounds. E-7 has been politically uncertain since Kegsbreath announced he didn't want it for the USAF, & Globaleye is already on order for two NATO air forces & appears to be the most likely choice for the joint NATO AEW fleet.

As for Options Analysis - apart from not buying air based AEW, what other options are there? E-2?

The Canadian government has had an AEW&C project for a while. It went from an aspiration to a funded project about a year ago, I think. The relevant web page currently says "Options Analysis Phase: In Progress" & "Date modified: 2025-12-01". The schedule laid out on that page is remarkably long, though. I think it's been accelerated. France chose Globaleye in August 2025, signed an order at the end of the year, & expects delivery of the first aircraft in 2029. Perhaps Canada can get it a similar timescale.

Airborne Early Warning & Control - Defence Capabilities Blueprint
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top