Ottawa negotiating purchase of Saab GlobalEye surveillance planes: Carney

The federal government is entering into contract negotiations with Saab to buy a fleet of surveillance aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday.

The federal government has said it’s in the market for six radar aircraft to help protect Canada.

Saab produces the planes in a joint partnership with Bombardier, based on the Global 6500 business jet.

The prime minister said the Air Force needs the jets to monitor new threats, such as hypersonic missiles.

"The GlobalEye's airborne surveillance capability can track objects and signals up to 650 kilometres away, and they'll share in real time that information with the Canadian Forces and our allies," Carney said during a speech at the Cansec defence expo in Ottawa.

"At the heart of the GlobalEye's system is the Canadian-made Bombardier Global 6500, an aircraft that includes 20 per cent U.S. content, which gives a sense at just how integrated these defence systems are."

Carney is the first prime minister to attend the annual Cansec arms show.

American firms Boeing and L3Harris also make similar radar planes.

The prime minister said the federal government now intends to spend the equivalent of four per cent of GDP on defence by 2030.

Carney said additional defence spending plans will put Canada "ahead of schedule" on the 2035 NATO target of spending five per cent of GDP on defence. NATO reported earlier this year that Canada met the existing two per cent target for the first time in 2025.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2026.

By Kyle Duggan | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.