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Saab’s second GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft has successfully completed a series of flight tests, including operational testing of the platform’s advanced sensor suites.
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The second GlobalEye aircraft took off for the first time at 11:00am on 3 January from Saab’s airfield in Linköping, Sweden. GlobalEye, which is based on a modified Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft with a suite of advanced sensors, including the Erieye ER airborne radar, undertook a test flight collecting data.
Anders Carp, head of Saab’s business area surveillance, said, "Today’s successful first flight is another major step for GlobalEye. We received the initial contract in late 2015, completed the maiden flight with the first aircraft in March 2018 and now we have the second aircraft in the air just over nine months later."
GlobalEye AEW&C provides air, maritime and ground surveillance in a single solution. It combines an extended range radar with the ultra-long range Global 6000 jet aircraft.
Incorporating Saab's AEW&C sensor suite technology into an existing aircraft provides a solution that maximises operational performance – both in terms of detection capability and mission endurance – while at the same time offering outstanding crew comfort.
The GlobalEye AEW&C platform provides a range of capabilities across the full spectrum of domains, including:
- Air surveillance:
- New Erieye ER (extended range) radar to reclaim the detection distance for small and future targets;
- Detection and tracking range highly increased;
- Designed to work in severe clutter and jamming conditions; and
- Adaptive AESA radar – energy is focused on areas or targets of interest.
- Maritime surveillance:
- Detects sea targets out to the elevated horizon;
- Detects small boats, like jet-skis, at long distances;
- The unique combination of Erieye ER and maritime surveillance radar allows for detection of objects down to the size of a periscope; and
- AIS, EOS and ISAR for identifying objects.
- Ground surveillance:
- Detects moving objects through long-range wide area ground moving target indicator radar; and
- Radar images, weather independent, with a dedicated radar.
GlobalEye brings extended detection range, endurance and the ability to perform multiple roles, including tasks such as search and rescue, border surveillance and military operations. The launch customer for GlobalEye is United Arab Emirates, where the solution is known as the Swing Role Surveillance System.
