Saab at Dubai Airshow 2025

Saab highlights Gripen E, GlobalEye, advanced radars and digital towers at Dubai Airshow 2025.

Saab at Dubai Airshow 2025 uses one of the region’s most visible air power stages to push a clear message: future air sovereignty depends on integrated sensing, resilient command-and-control and survivable combat aircraft. At Dubai World Central, the Swedish group occupies stand 945 to showcase Gripen E, GlobalEye, Giraffe 1X, coastal surveillance systems and digital towers as a connected portfolio rather than a loose collection of platforms.

Key Facts

Saab at Dubai Airshow 2025 is located at stand 945 at Dubai World Central, focusing on integrated air, maritime and ground surveillance solutions.
Gripen E fighter, GlobalEye AEW&C, Giraffe 1X radar and advanced electronic warfare suites form the backbone of Saab’s air power offer.
GlobalEye, already in service with the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, delivers simultaneous air, maritime and ground surveillance from a single multi-role platform.
Coast Control Radar and DeployNet, developed with the UAE’s Tawazun Council, address coastal security and secure, deployable communications.
Saab also highlights its civil and military digital tower family, including a rapidly deployable tower for dispersed and austere air operations.

Saab at Dubai Airshow 2025: integrated air power, not single platforms

At this year’s show, Saab at Dubai Airshow 2025 presents itself less as a traditional platform vendor and more as a systems integrator. Fighters, airborne early warning, ground-based air defence and air traffic management are all framed as parts of a single, resilient architecture. In practical terms, Saab invites regional air forces to treat Gripen E, GlobalEye, Giraffe 1X and coastal surveillance networks as interconnected nodes in one national sensing and response grid.

The company also serves as a gold sponsor of the Dubai International Air Chiefs’ Conference. That position gives Saab a voice in regional debates on airspace sovereignty, integrated air and missile defence and the balance between manned and uncrewed systems. For Gulf and wider Middle Eastern customers, the message is that Saab seeks long-term involvement in shaping air power concepts, not only participation in individual procurement campaigns.

“Now more than ever, protecting the sovereignty of airspace is foremost in the minds of many,” says Heléne Bittmann, Managing Director of Saab in the UAE. She argues that Saab’s airborne and ground systems are designed to protect and defend national airspace while contributing directly to national security.
Heléne Bittmann, Saab in the UAE

Gripen E and Arexis: survivable combat aviation in contested airspace

Gripen E sits at the centre of Saab at Dubai Airshow 2025, represented by a detailed model on the stand. Saab positions the fighter as a cost-effective but highly survivable option for air forces that expect to fly in the shadow of advanced integrated air defence systems and dense electronic warfare activity. Open-architecture avionics, networked sensors and flexible weapons carriage are all presented as tools to adapt quickly as adversaries change tactics or field new systems.

The fighter’s electronic survivability is built around the Arexis electronic warfare suite, which is also being developed for the Eurofighter EK variant. Arexis relies on digital receivers, advanced signal processing and active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology to detect, classify and counter hostile emitters. In Saab’s narrative, this turns Gripen E into a node in the broader electronic order of battle: it protects itself, supports escorts and contributes to the suppression of enemy air defences.

Saab further stresses life-cycle resilience. Rather than locking customers into static configurations, the company emphasises modular upgrades, software-defined capabilities and continuous threat library updates. For air forces that must stretch budgets while keeping fleets current, this approach to spiralled modernisation can matter as much as raw aircraft performance figures.

GlobalEye: AEW&C as a sovereign strategic asset

GlobalEye appears in Dubai as Saab’s flagship AEW&C solution. The system is already operational with the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, giving the host nation a prominent reference user. Saab describes GlobalEye as “the world’s most advanced AEW&C solution”, but the more important point for operators is how it combines air, maritime and ground surveillance in a single platform.

Operationally, GlobalEye extends the radar horizon well beyond ground-based sensors. It tracks low-flying cruise missiles, small uncrewed aircraft systems and maritime surface contacts at long range, then fuses that data into a single recognised air and surface picture. Command centres, ground-based air defence units and fighters can all draw from this picture, which is crucial in congested airspaces where civilian and military traffic intermingle with potential threats.

For policymakers, Saab frames GlobalEye as a strategic national asset. In peacetime it supports air policing, border surveillance and maritime domain awareness. In crisis or conflict it underpins early warning, battle management and coordination with coalition partners. That positioning aligns with regional efforts to build sovereign early warning and command-and-control capabilities, rather than depending exclusively on allied enabling forces.

Giraffe 1X: buying time against drones and low-flying threats

The Giraffe 1X multifunctional radar adds a short-range layer to Saab’s air defence narrative. The compact AESA radar offers simultaneous air surveillance, ground-based air defence cueing and drone detection from a relatively small footprint. It can be mounted on vehicles, masts or ships, which allows commanders to plug coverage gaps, protect high-value assets or move sensors with manoeuvre forces.

Saab repeatedly describes Giraffe 1X as a “time-to-act” generator. By spotting low, slow and small aerial threats early, the radar delivers extra seconds for commanders to identify, decide and engage. In an era of mass-produced one-way attack drones and commercial quadcopters used for targeting and reconnaissance, that time margin can determine whether critical infrastructure stays online or not.

Coastal security, DeployNet and UAE industrial partnerships

Beyond classic air defence, Saab at Dubai Airshow 2025 highlights Coast Control Radar and DeployNet as examples of cooperation with the UAE’s Tawazun Council for Defence Enablement. Coast Control Radar supports maritime domain awareness by tracking vessels in territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. It is tailored for states that must protect ports, offshore energy infrastructure and dense coastal shipping routes.

DeployNet focuses on secure, high-capacity communications for deployed forces. It offers a portable, rapidly deployable network capable of carrying voice, data and video in support of military operations or civil emergency response. Together, these systems signal that Saab is prepared to work with Emirati partners on solutions tuned to national priorities, rather than limiting the relationship to catalogue sales.

Digital towers and dispersed, resilient air operations

Saab also puts significant emphasis on its civil and military digital tower family. Digital towers use sensor-equipped masts and high-definition cameras to provide air traffic controllers with a remote visual picture, replacing or complementing traditional physical towers. For both civil and military users, this concept enables control of multiple airfields from one centre, supports temporary or contingency strips and reduces the need to station personnel in exposed locations.

The Deployable Digital Tower is designed for rapid set-up. Saab notes that the system can be mission ready within an hour and operated from a secure site or from a centralised facility hundreds of miles away. For air forces exploring dispersed operations and rapid runway activation, this reduces the time and risk involved in re-opening secondary or austere bases under threat.

Combined with GlobalEye, Giraffe 1X and ground-based air defence networks, digital towers help close the loop between sensing, decision-making and actual aircraft movements. Saab’s Dubai narrative therefore centres on coherent networks and distributed resilience rather than isolated hardware upgrades.

What Saab at Dubai Airshow 2025 signals for Gulf air forces

Ultimately, Saab uses the Dubai Airshow 2025 exhibition as a strategic signalling opportunity. The company showcases a portfolio that spans fighters and AEW&C, as well as radars, coastal surveillance, and digital air traffic management. Yet the common thread is not hardware diversity; it is the promise of an integrated, multi-domain architecture that supports national decision-making under pressure.

For regional decision-makers, this offer speaks to three broad priorities. First, they want combat air power that can survive and operate in increasingly contested airspace. Second, they require persistent multi-domain awareness that turns complex air and maritime environments into a coherent operational picture. Third, they need resilient command, control and communications networks that continue to function even under heavy electronic and kinetic attack.

As Gulf states and their partners continue to invest in next-generation air and missile defence, Dubai remains a key showcase for concepts as well as platforms. Saab’s presence suggests that it intends to remain part of that conversation over the long term, positioning itself as a strategic partner in how air power is conceived, commanded and sustained rather than as a short-term supplier.