Wedgetail vs GlobalEye vs Dassault: which AEW&C will Europe choose?

Europe’s airborne early-warning gap now comes down to three answers. The Boeing E-7 Wedgetail is the most mature Western AEW&C platform — a 737NG carrying Northrop Grumman’s MESA radar with 360-degree coverage and detection beyond 600 km, already chosen by the UK. Saab’s GlobalEye, built on a Bombardier business jet with the Erieye ER radar, trades crew size for endurance, lower cost and a combined air-and-maritime picture. Dassault’s AEW concept represents a sovereign European alternative still taking shape.

The decision is not only technical. It is about cost per orbit, sovereignty over the sensor, fleet endurance, and how each platform fits NATO’s command architecture as AWACS retires. Governments choosing now are locking in decades of capability and industrial dependency.

The full comparison sets the three platforms side by side — radar performance, range, crewing, cost and strategic fit — and weighs them against U.S. alternatives, so you can see which trade-offs actually drive the procurement.