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General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc and Swedish defence prime Saab have announced they will conduct a live demonstration of an airborne early warning and control system mounted on the MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft in mid-2026.
The trial, to be held at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc’s (GA-ASI) Desert Horizon flight operations centre in Southern California, will see an MQ-9B fitted with Saab-supplied airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) sensors operate in a fully integrated configuration for the first time.
The collaboration pairs Saab’s longstanding expertise in AEW&C with GA-ASI’s high-end, long-endurance MQ-9B family, a platform already in service with multiple allied air forces and under consideration in several Indo-Pacific defence modernisation programs, including Australia’s.
GA-ASI said the addition of AEW&C to the MQ-9B could provide nations with a persistent and far more affordable airborne surveillance option, particularly in areas where traditional AEW&C aircraft are unavailable, difficult to sustain or prohibitively expensive, including at sea for carrier groups.
“Adding AEW&C to the MQ-9B brings a critical new capability to our platform,” GA-ASI president David R Alexander said. “We want to deliver a persistent AEW&C solution to our global operators that will protect them against sophisticated cruise missiles as well as simple but dangerous drone swarms.”
The MQ-9B series includes the SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian variants, the UK’s Protector aircraft, and a short take-off and landing configuration now in development. GA-ASI argued that the platform’s high operational availability and endurance make it particularly well suited to continuous airborne surveillance without exposing aircrews to risk.
The AEW&C-equipped MQ-9B is expected to offer long-range sensing and tracking of tactical munitions, guided missiles, unmanned systems, fighters, bombers and other aerial threats.
According to the companies, the system will support early warning, simultaneous multi-target tracking and integration with combat systems through both line-of-sight and SATCOM links.
The 2026 demonstration is aimed at validating the concept for international customers as demand grows for more flexible and dispersed airborne surveillance options across multi-domain operations.
