Last September, Saab unveiled the first 340 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft destined for Poland in Linköpingnow the early warning and command and control aircraft landed at the Polish naval airfield in Gdynia during the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson.
The aircraft with the number 3401 is expected to begin operating the new capability for Poland over the Baltic Sea (now often referred to as the “NATO Sea” following the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO) and on the Alliance’s eastern flank in the coming weeks. It will be used for these patrols jointly by the Polish Air Force and the fleet’s naval aviation. The emblem of the Gdynia Naval Aviation Brigade is already prominently displayed on the nose of the aircraft.
From the desert to the Baltic Sea
The two aircraft are part of a contract signed in July 2023 between the political government and Saab (see video below). They had previously flown for ten years in the United Arab Emirates, which since 2015 switched to (now) five of the much more powerful multi-role AEW&C Global Eye (based on the Global-6000) and returned the two turboprop platforms to the manufacturer in the process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JIgXybpJQc In 2010, the two airframes (UAE-AF 1331 and 1332) ordered in 2009 for around 135 million euros (1.5 billion Swedish kronor) went to Abu Dhabi, and on 19 December 2020 they returned to Saab-plant in Linköping. The Swedes then carried out overhauls on both aircraft and the radar equipment as part of the Polish package ordered in July 2023 for around 50 million euros and, as mentioned above, officially presented them to Polish representatives and the media in record time on September 29, 2023.
Despite their “second ownership”, the smallest AEW Saab 340Bs are equipped with modern radio electronics, in particular the PS-890 Erieye AFAR (Active Phased Array Antenna) developed by Ericsson. It offers a coverage of 300 degrees, an instrumental range of 450 kilometers and an operational range of 350 kilometers, even under conditions of enemy electronic (jamming) warfare. The core was developed on a modern element basis with gallium nitride (GaN) modules from Saab and improves the detection range against so-called “uncooperative air targets” by 70 percent compared to previous solutions, including the identification of cruise missiles. Surface targets can also be detected and recognized.
Market success Erieye
The first Erieye surveillance system was delivered on the Saab 340 aircraft platform to the Swedish Air Force, which has since ordered two Global Eyes itself. The system was also sold to Thailand together with Gripen C/D. It was also installed on the Embraer-145 jet and is now in service in Brazil (the fifth aircraft was handed over in November), Mexico and Greece. Another Saab-2000 turboprop was delivered to Pakistan (via Athens) at the beginning of the year (see video below), and eight more have been in service there since the end of 2009. Instead, the Chinese AWACS system ZDK03 Karakoram Eagle (disc antenna) based on the four-engine turboprop Y-8 will be retired after just ten years.
Another system – unconfirmed by Saab – has been in operation in Saudi Arabia since 2014. At the recent Singapore Airshow, it was also reported that Manila and Stockholm have begun negotiations on the possible acquisition of a fleet of 18 Gripen for the Philippine Air Force. Swedish early warning aircraft are also likely to be part of the package.
The cooperation between Saab and Poland is not limited to the early warning system. At the beginning of March, the Swedish arms manufacturer signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense in Warsaw for the delivery of new contract with the Ministry of Defense in Warsaw for the delivery of new Carl-Gustaf M4 anti-tank weapons worth more than 1.1 billion euros. According to the new Polish Minister of Defense, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, this involves several thousand weapon systems with several hundred thousand rounds of ammunition.
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