Poland looks to buy early-warning aircraft from Sweden

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak has announced his country is in talks with Sweden to purchase an undisclosed number of early-warning aircraft for the Polish Air Force, Defense News reports.

“I wanted to say, for the first time in public, that we are very advanced in what concerns acquiring early warning aircraft from Sweden,” he was quoted as saying in a statement released by his ministry. “We are carrying out detailed negotiations, and I hope that, in the short term, they will be successfully concluded.”

Błaszczak did not disclose the make of the aircraft that is to be purchased, though local industry observers say the Polish government wants Saab’s GlobalEye aircraft which were also ordered by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) last year.

Stockholm has ordered two aircraft for some 7.3 billion krona ($689 million), with an option to acquire another two. The deal covers the years 2022 to 2027, Saab said in a statement.

The aircraft will be fitted with the Erieye Extended Range radar which has a range of more than 550 km (342 miles), according to data from the manufacturer.

Błaszczak’s declaration came on the occasion of the May 22 meeting of the Northern Group, a security-focused body established by 12 European countries that includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK. Warsaw currently holds the group’s chairmanship.

At the latest meeting in Legionowo, Poland, participants agreed “that Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine has seriously transformed [the] security environment,” the Polish ministry said.

The Northern Group’s “members share a common view that providing further military assistance to Ukraine in its struggle against Russia’s illegal and brutal aggression is crucial”, the statement said.