Canada Picks Sweden’s Saab for Arctic Spy Planes, Cutting Back on US Defense Dependence

The New York Times, the Guardian, ABC News, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, Reuters, and the Hill contributed to this report.

Canada is turning to Sweden for its next fleet of early warning aircraft, choosing Saab’s GlobalEye over a competing Boeing bid in a clear signal that Prime Minister Mark Carney wants Ottawa less reliant on US defense suppliers.

Carney said Wednesday that Canada has entered talks to buy the GlobalEye, a surveillance plane built on Bombardier’s Global 6500 jet. Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail was also in the running, but the aircraft has been dogged by delays and cost overruns, and that clearly did not help its case.

Carney framed the decision as both a security move and an industrial one. The aircraft, he said, will help the Canadian Armed Forces spot and deter threats across the Arctic, where Canada has been under pressure to do more on its own after years of leaning heavily on US partnership.

“This is about protecting Canadians and supporting our allies,” Carney said, adding that the deal would also help support jobs and advanced manufacturing at home.

Saab said it expects to invest in research and development work in Canada as part of any agreement.

The government did not give a price tag or confirm the fleet size, but officials had previously said they were looking for six planes. The GlobalEye uses advanced radar and sensors to track aircraft, ships and other threats over long distances, making it a strong fit for Arctic surveillance.

The choice also carries political weight. Canada has been trying to diversify its defense relationships as tensions with Washington have risen, especially after US tariffs and Donald Trump’s repeated jabs at Canadian sovereignty. Carney has already said he wants less than 70 cents of every dollar spent on military capital to go to the US.

Saab’s win could matter beyond this one contract. Analysts see it as a test case for Carney’s broader push to pivot away from American military hardware. It also deepens Canada’s ties with Sweden, a newer NATO ally that has been eager to expand its defense relationship with Ottawa.

There is still another fighter-jet decision hanging over the government. Canada already has a deal for 88 F-35s from Lockheed Martin, but Carney has asked the military to review whether some of that order should be cut back in favor of another supplier. Saab is also hoping to sell Canada its Gripen fighter.

For now, though, the big headline is the same one that keeps coming up in Ottawa: Canada wants more control over its defense future, and it is willing to shop outside the US to get it.