Uncrewed airborne early-warning platform takes initial flight
NewsMay 22, 2026
LINKÖPING, Sweden. Saab reports that its airborne early-warning sensor, LoyalEye, successfully completed its first flight on an uncrewed aircraft -- the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) MQ-9B aircraft -- on May 19, marking the initial flight of the world’s first uncrewed airborne early warning (AEW) platform.
According to the Saab announcement, the GA-ASI MQ-9B Sky Guardian, fitted with Saab’s LoyalEye radar sensor pods, made its initial flight from GA-ASI’s Desert Horizon facility in southern California.
Carl Johan Bergholm, head of Saab’s business area surveillance, said of the initial flight: “LoyalEye on the MQ-9B offers critical airborne sensing, supporting extended persistence and operational reach. As a complement to manned assets, it aims to enhance situational awareness and, in combination, enable greater operational reach and flexibility."
“AEW for MQ-9B will offer critical aloft sensing to defend against tactical air munitions, guided missiles, drones, fighter and bomber aircraft, and other threats,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “Operational availability for a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS is the highest of any military aircraft, and as an unmanned platform, its aircrews are not put into harm’s way.”
The Saab-GA-ASI AEW collaboration is intended to support a wide range of applications, including early detection and warning, long-range detection and tracking, and simultaneous tracking of multiple targets, both beyond-line-of -sight and via satellite connectivity.
