Reference News Network July 2 report: Japan Yahoo News published an article on June 29 with the title "Airborne Early Warning Aircraft Are Changing, Has Japan Noticed the World Has Entered the Drone Era," written by Shu Takeuchi. The article excerpts are as follows:

American General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Company and Swedish Saab will jointly develop an unmanned airborne early warning aircraft. The image of airborne early warning aircraft as manned aircraft equipped with large radar systems is changing.

On June 16, American drone system manufacturer General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Company and Swedish Saab announced that they had agreed to establish a strategic partnership to develop an airborne early warning aircraft based on the MQ-9B drone platform.

Early warning aircraft play an important role in modern air warfare, and people may imagine them as manned aircraft equipped with large radar systems, but this traditional concept seems to be changing.

Saab is a fighter manufacturer, whose products include the JAS-39 Gripen fighter. Since acquiring Ericsson Microwave Systems in 2006, Saab has made radar business one of its main businesses. Ericsson Microwave Systems developed the PS-05/A radar installed on the Gripen. In the field of aircraft radar, the company is steadily increasing its market share. Saab announced in June 2025 that the French Air and Space Force will purchase two "Global Eye" early warning aircraft equipped with its "Erieye" radar.

It is currently unclear what type of drone system will be used for the early warning aircraft based on the MQ-9B platform, but from the photos released by Saab, the future unmanned early warning aircraft will not have a rotating radar like the E-2 early warning aircraft, nor a fixed radar like the "Global Eye," but rather a radar and early warning system pod suspended from the wing mounts of the MQ-9B.

Both of the "Queen Elizabeth"-class aircraft carriers, including the British Royal Navy's "Prince of Wales" carrier arriving in Japan, are equipped with the "Watchkeeper" early warning helicopter, which is an improved version of the AW-101 Merlin general-purpose helicopter.

The "Watchkeeper" early warning helicopter is one of the top helicopter early warning systems in the world, which began service in March 2021, but the UK Ministry of Defense has decided to retire it in January 2025, citing the fact that it is based on a helicopter platform, with a shorter range and lower flight altitude compared to fixed-wing aircraft, meaning its search range is smaller than that of fixed-wing early warning aircraft. Some views suggest that the "Watchkeeper" early warning helicopter is difficult to complete the tasks required by the "Queen Elizabeth"-class aircraft carriers in the future.

The replacement for the "Watchkeeper" will be a fixed-wing drone, and the joint development of the early warning aircraft based on the MQ-9B platform by General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Company and Saab is considered aimed at winning the British order.

The plan to operate a fixed-wing drone system on the "Queen Elizabeth"-class aircraft carriers is called "Vixen," and although the specific model has not been determined yet, the UK Minister of State for Defence Procurement Maria Eagle has confirmed that the MQ-9B can operate on the "Queen Elizabeth"-class aircraft carriers, which makes the early warning aircraft jointly developed by General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Company and Saab a potential option.

In fact, the unmanned early warning aircraft system jointly developed by General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Company and Saab is also related to Japan.

On January 15, the Defense Equipment Agency conducted a public tender for companies discussing "carrier-based early warning aircraft." I believe this most likely refers to an early warning aircraft that can be mounted on the "Izumo"-class helicopter destroyers.

The "Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun" reported on December 15, 2018, citing government sources, that the Ministry of Defense considered having the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's E-767 early warning aircraft take off from land bases to support the use of the "Izumo"-class ships as light aircraft carriers. After further consideration, they thought this was not enough, so they decided to consider introducing carrier-based early warning aircraft.

The "Izumo"-class is about 247 meters long, which is shorter than the 277-meter-long "Queen Elizabeth"-class, so it is unclear whether the MQ-9B can take off and land normally. However, if the short takeoff and landing (STOL) kit being developed by General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Company is added, or if the drone launch system using an electromagnetic catapult, which the parent company of General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Company announced in January this year, is used, the MQ-9B can fully operate on the "Izumo"-class ships.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has already decided to adopt the "Sea Guardian" drone based on the MQ-9B platform, and if the development progresses smoothly, the early warning aircraft based on the MQ-9B platform could also become a strong candidate for Japan's carrier-based early warning aircraft. (Translated by Liu Lin)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7522360578170520090/

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