For my Substack audience who may not be active on YouTube, this is a companion video to my recent article about Canada flirting with the Gripen. You can read that here.
I know, I know. Canada has been getting a lot of my ink lately. But this is one of the more interesting global security stories happening at the moment. And for all the hate mail I’ve been getting asking why I support Saab… Well, perhaps they’re one of the few large defense firms actually innovating and not resting on their laurels? Maybe I have Saab stock? Maybe I just want a free morale ride in the Gripen? But by all means, keep sending me angry emails. Your hate makes me stronger lol
Canada just named Saab as its preferred supplier for a new airborne early warning and control fleet: six GlobalEye aircraft worth more than five billion Canadian dollars.
Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail, the plane the US Air Force, Australia, and Britain all chose, didn’t make the cut. Before anyone hands Sweden a trophy, nothing’s signed yet. But the signal Canada just sent is louder than the contract.
In this video: how the GlobalEye and Wedgetail actually compare on the spec sheet, why Canada’s Arctic surveillance problem makes the trade-offs look very different than they do in a NATO air war scenario, and why this decision was never really about which radar sees further.
Слава Україні!
MINOR CORRECTION: I say Canada “bought” or “is buying” multiple times in the video. Just to clarify, this is not a done deal yet. Saab has been named a preferred supplier with Carney expressing his intentions.
