Saab has signed a contract and received an order for the Airborne Early Warning and Control solution Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control).
The order value is $164 million (1.553 billion SEK) and deliveries will be made between 2020 and 2023. Saab has said that due to circumstances concerning the product and customer, further information about the customer will not be announced.
The Saab 2000 Erieye
The Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C system has multi-role and multi-mission capabilities for both military and civil needs. It is based on the Saab 2000 aircraft equipped with Saab’s airborne radar Erieye and a range of other sensors. The lightweight design allows Erieye to be integrated on medium-size commuter-type aircraft, like the Saab 2000 turboprop.
The solution gives the user detailed situational awareness and can be used for tasks including border surveillance and search-and-rescue operations. Flying at high altitude, Erieye covers a much wider area than a conventional ground-based sensor system. The effective surveillance area is over 500,000 square kilometres horizontally and over 60,000 feet vertically. Sea coverage is only limited by the horizon and everything from fighter aircraft, hovering helicopters, cruise missiles and jet ski-sized sea targets can be detected and tracked.
The Radar
The radar is based on Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology, enabling the radar energy to be adjusted according to the situation – it can be used over an extensive area or concentrated within a smaller prioritised area. The radar detects and tracks objects quickly with high precision and a high update rate. S-band technology ensures top performance in all weather conditions. The extensive COM suite secures communication with participating assets and other control centres, on the ground or in the air.
The Pakistan Air Force operates six Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C aircraft and the Royal Saudi Air Force two. Saab will carry out the work in Gothenburg, Järfälla, Linköping, Luleå and Arboga, Sweden.
by David Oliver
