Poland acquires Swedish Saab 340 AEW airborne early warning and control aircraft

The Armaments Agency, an entity under the Polish Ministry of Defense, signed the contract for the purchase of an unspecified number of Saab 340 AEW airborne early warning and control aircrafts.

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The negotiations between Poland and Sweden for Airborne Early Warning (AEW) systems was announced by Mariusz Błaszczak in May. And while the specific model was not mentioned, the characteristics of the armament purchases made by Poland in recent years suggested that they would seek to incorporate the powerful new GlobalEye that Saab is actively promoting as a future AEW&C system for NATO.

However, everything seems to indicate that this was an emergency purchase, motivated by the precarious security situation on NATO’s Eastern front following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is why Poland intends to quickly acquire the Swedish Saab 340 AEW aircraft.

Dziś @AgencjaUzbr podpisała umowę na dostawę szwedzkich samolotów wczesnego ostrzegania Saab 340 AEW. Dzięki temu wschodnia flanka #NATO zostanie wzmocniona, a polska przestrzeń powietrzna staje się bezpieczniejsza. https://t.co/OLYf0VLHkE pic.twitter.com/8XaadV1Qga

— Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) July 25, 2023

 

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The news was reported by The Polish Minister of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, on his social networks.

Saab 340 AEW

The Swedish Air Force currently relies on two older Saab 340 AEWs (of the 4 originally acquired), in operational status, to provide early warning and airborne control capabilities.

The main sensor system on these aircraft is the AESA Erieye sidescan radar, with °300 coverage and the ability to detect a fighter-sized target at 250 kms range. The aircraft can remain airborne over the deployment area for between 5 and 6 hours, normally flying below 6,000 meters.

These values are not considered sufficient by today’s standards, so the Swedish Air Force decided to replace them with the much more modern and capable Saab GlobalEye.

It is therefore possible that the aircraft that were purchased by Poland are the two Saab 340 AEWs that Sweden is not currently using, which must have been kept in safe storage, given the tactical importance of this type of platform.