Ottawa picks Sweden’s Saab early-warning aircraft tech over U.S. contenders

A model of Saab's GlobalEye aircraft is shown at the CANSEC defence industry trade show in Ottawa on Wednesday.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada has entered into negotiations to buy Swedish-made Saab early-warning aircraft technology, picking a non-U.S. supplier as he makes good on a promise to reduce spending on American military gear.

Mr. Carney announced the selection at the annual CANSEC defence trade show in Ottawa on Wednesday.

He said Canada will proceed with the GlobalEye system made by Saab. Other contenders were the Aeris X by L3Harris and E-7 Wedgetail by Boeing, which one defence analyst says is the favoured choice by the Canadian military.

The GlobalEye early-warning system will be installed on Global 6500 jets made by Bombardier in Canada.

Mr. Carney told the CANSEC audience that this was the first time a prime minister had spoken at the annual trade show. He said the assumptions that have defined decades of Canadian defence policy have been overturned.

He added that battlefield threats have changed and multiplied. Left unmentioned was Canada’s long-standing security partnership with the United States, which has become strained under President Donald Trump’s protectionism and frequent policy shifts.

Prime Minister Mark Carney tells the CANSEC defence show in Ottawa his government is in talks with the Swedish firm Saab to buy a fleet of GlobalEye radar planes.

Airborne early warning and control aircraft, often referred to as flying radars, will help track incoming threats in an era where Canada is worried about hypersonic and cruise missiles from countries such as Russia and China.

The Canadian government needs six of these specially outfitted aircraft, according to a project description on the Department of National Defence website. Mr. Carney did not say Wednesday how much this would cost, but the project description says the procurement is expected to cost more than $5-billion.

“Saab and Bombardier’s expertise is transforming a modern jet into a cutting-edge surveillance aircraft,” Mr. Carney said in his speech.

“With its suite of advanced sensors and mission systems, Saab’s GlobalEye will be a key resource for the Canadian Armed Forces to detect and deter threats across the Arctic.”

Mr. Carney has repeatedly promised to reduce Canada’s spending on U.S.-made military gear. “The days of our military sending 70 cents of every dollar to the United States are over,” he said most recently at the Liberal Party’s convention in April.

He noted on Wednesday that the Saab technology is also the product of choice for Canadian partners, including France, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.

Philippe Lagassé, an associate professor at Carleton University who researches defence policy and procurement, said the planned purchase of the early-warning technology was an important test case for Mr. Carney’s pledge to pivot away from U.S. military capability.

Prof. Lagassé said the Royal Canadian Air Force preferred the U.S.-made Boeing E-7 system, which would have enhanced Canada’s interoperability with the U.S. military.

“It’s easy to say these things” about reducing spending on U.S. military gear, Prof. Lagassé said. “It’s another thing when the Canadian Armed Forces are indicating there’s only one plane that fully meets their requirements.”

Mr. Carney declined to say whether picking Saab’s technology is a sign that Canada will also end up buying the Swedish company’s Gripen fighter jets. His government announced last year that it’s reconsidering purchasing its full order of 88 U.S.-made F-35 fighters amid rising protectionism from Washington.

He said Canada will make a decision “after proper deliberation and taking into account all the considerations, first and foremost operational requirements, of the Canadian Forces and secondly, the broader industrial benefits and true partnerships we can strike.”

While the Bombardier 6500 aircraft are built in Canada, the Prime Minister acknowledged that they have about 20 per cent U.S. content.

As part of the Saab deal, Canada will build Bombardier 6500 jets for early-warning and control aircraft orders from other countries, Mr. Carney said. This will support more than 3,000 jobs in Canada’s aerospace sector, he said.

At least one-third of the planned GlobalEye aircraft fleet will be produced in Canada over the next 15 years, he said. This represents at least 40 aircraft, including export orders for other countries, built by Canadian workers.

GlobalEye’s airborne surveillance capability can track objects and signals up to 650 kilometres away and will rapidly share information with the Canadian Forces, Mr. Carney said.

Friction between Canada and United States over buying U.S. military gear has been growing over the past 12 months. The Trump administration has repeatedly complained about Canada’s decision to pause its order of U.S. fighter aircraft.

And as The Globe and Mail reported last week, a Pentagon official told Canadian media that the U.S. government’s decision to freeze a joint defence board with Canada was prompted by Ottawa’s lack of a detailed strategy for increasing military spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035 and by its reconsideration of the plan to purchase F-35s.

Prof. Lagassé said one factor that may make it easier for Mr. Carney to buy less American gear over the next few years is that the former Trudeau government purchased a lot of U.S. military equipment – such as Boeing’s 16 P-8A Poseidon aircraft – that is still arriving.

This continuing delivery of U.S.-made defence gear could serve to assuage American concerns about a Canadian pivot on military procurement, he said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Saab president and CEO Micael Johansson welcomed the decision to make his company the preferred supplier. The company noted that no contract has yet been signed nor any order received as all this remains to be negotiated.

“GlobalEye offers proven capability for the Royal Canadian Air Force, sovereign ownership for Canada and comprehensive and skilled work for Canadian industry,” Mr. Johansson said.

Separately, Wednesday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Ottawa that a joint German-Norwegian bid to supply Canada with submarines would add $86-billion to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product in terms of economic benefits over the life of the deal.

The proposal is expected to create more than 650,000 job years of employment over the life of the deal, the Germans said. A job-year means one job for one year

Germany’s TKMS submarine maker is competing with South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean for the Canadian sub deal.

Hanwha has said that its proposal would deliver more than $70-billion in trade and investment in Canada and more than 25,000 jobs annually over the period 2026 to 2044.

Canada is expected to make a selection by the end of June for up to 12 submarines.