At the NATO Summit in Ankara, Türkiye, Secretary General Mark Rutte announced on July 7, 2026 that the Alliance will begin formal negotiations with Saab for the acquisition of up to 10 GLOBALEYE Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft. The aircraft are intended to replace the 14 Boeing E-3A SENTRY aircraft of NATO's AWACS fleet, in service since 1982. As stated by Saab itself, no contract has been signed at this stage: the company will now proceed to formal negotiations with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) to define the terms of the acquisition and secure the contract.

On the same day, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Norway announced the joint acquisition of up to 5 High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) MQ-4C TRITON drones from Northrop Grumman. The aircraft are meant to complement the Alliance's Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system, which operates RQ-4D PHOENIX drones from Sigonella air base. Unlike the existing AGS, given the geography of the countries involved and the more maritime-oriented profile of the TRITON compared to the PHOENIX, the new drones are highly likely to operate primarily over the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Arctic, establishing a maritime surveillance capability dedicated to the Alliance's northern flank. A transatlantic industrial consortium is being formed for the program: Northrop Grumman will build the aircraft, while Airbus Defence and Space and other European companies will provide the ground segment, data management, command and control, infrastructure, and mission support, following the same approach used for the AGS program at Sigonella.

Both announcements were made as part of a broader package of high-level defense procurement initiatives unveiled during the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum (NSDIF26) in Ankara.