Poland Ordering Saab AEW
 

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/n...rning-aircraft

Poland in advanced talks for GlobalEye early warning aircraft

Poland is in advanced negotiations with Sweden to acquire the Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft for the country's armed forces.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Mariusz Błaszczak, made the disclosure on 22 May, saying he expects a contract to be finalised in the short term.

“I wanted to say publicly for the first time that we are very advanced in obtaining early warning aircraft from Sweden. We are already conducting detailed negotiations. I hope they will be successful in a short time,” Błaszczak said during a meeting of Northern Group NATO members. “In this way, we strengthen the resilience of Poland, but also of the entire eastern flank of the [NATO] alliance,” he added.

Poland does not currently field an AEW&C capability, relying instead on the NATO Airborne Early Warning Force (NAEWF), and the Boeing E-3A Sentry Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) aircraft of the E-3A Component.

While the minister did not disclose numbers, for a niche high-end capability such as AEW&C Poland could be expected to acquire between two and six (inclusive) airframes.

Looks like a cross between a Wedgetail and a Sentinel.

Bet they get more than 3, and manage to get the same number of radars as aircraft…

Poland is, I think, giving a none-too-subtle Finger to a few NATO allies (particularly Germany and France) with this move.
As a practical matter they are - rather than relying on NATO for AEW - establishing an organic AEW capability with the NATO AEW as a back up/supplement (if the various allies can get off their butts and approve a deployment on any given Sunday).
I wonder when these AEW assets will earn IOC, in Poland? Is 2025 to soon?

Don't see how this is 'a finger' to anyone in NATO, much less to France and Germany in particular.

No one said it was “a finger” when the UK ordered E-7 Wedgetails for AEW.

Or when Italy bought their G550 AEW….

https://theaviationist.com/2022/03/0...-caew-romania/

Nothing happens in a vacuum. (Mind you, it may be a simple matter of a price point...)

But here's what I see as informing the choice of the Swedes. This is somewhat political, of course, but it is very much related to a practical military matter that enters into theater level and strategic level planning:
Can you count on a timely response by your so-called allies?
This is why I call out the Germans and the French in particular.
Why is that?
In the last five years, and even more in the last 18 months, I've read a variety of perspectives on how shabbily the Germans and the French treat, in general, the Visigrad states in the EU (NATO overlap is a common thread in most cases).
Since NATO action requires unanimity, the timeliness one can expect from the (blatantly lackluster) response of the Germans and the French in the current mess in Ukraine has (I suspect) redoubled and reinforced the concern which Poland - as a border/buffer state - has about a timely response.
They (1) want updated AEW, and (2) they do not believe that the alliance will provide a timely response with the collective asset.
Am I reading a bit too much into this? Perhaps.
I tell you again, nothing happens in a vacuum when it comes to weapons acquisition.

On the other hand, yes, it could be as simple as a price point.

Interesting choice of airframe if true…

Seems Poland might be going for an even less obvious choice for its AEW than the already less obvious GlobalEye, with this slide via @mswierczynski1 noting the Saab 340 as the host airframe...

Unclear if it will be with the standard Erieye radar or the Erieye ER as fitted to GlobalEye (don’t know if that’s even an option).

It is unlikely that the two 340 aircraft are being transferred from the Swedish Air Force, as its two new GlobalEyes are not due to arrive until 2027. Not sure where they're coming from.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f3894110a.jpeg


UAE returned two aircraft after they got globaleye

https://www.scramble.nl/military-new...rned-to-sweden

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In a ceremony today in Sweden, we unveiled the first 340 AEW system to the Polish customer. The solution, presented only two months after the order, will provide Poland’s Armed Forces with a national asset to reinforce territorial integrity and national security.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9ceb9f41a.jpeg
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