Swedish aircraft Saab 340 AEW&C || Review

Video from the channel Big Gun about Saab 340, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 14:22. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A report on the airborne early warning and control version of the Saab 340, also known as the S 100B Argus or ASC 890. It covers the baseline aircraft, the Erieye radar and how the two were integrated, with a mention of the variant built on the Saab 2000.

Sweden began considering an aircraft of this type in the late 1970s. It ruled out buying the Boeing E-3 Sentry because of its cost and opted for an in-house development instead. In 1980 Saab partnered with Fairchild to build the 340: Saab handled the fuselage and final assembly, while Fairchild built the wings, tail and engine nacelles. The prototype flew in 1983. Fairchild left the programme in 1985, and the 340B introduced CT7-9B engines rated at 1,870 hp. In 1985 Ericsson Microwave Systems was commissioned to build the PS-890 radar. It was flight-tested on a 340B between 1994 and 1996, and the Swedish Air Force adopted the aircraft in 1997. Only four of the six aircraft originally planned received the radar; the other two serve as VIP transports.

The Erieye is a pulse-Doppler radar with an active electronically scanned antenna, housed in a 9-metre dorsal fairing weighing about 900 kg. According to the video, it operates between 2 and 4 GHz and covers 150 degrees on each side, with blind zones ahead and behind. Its stated range against aerial targets is 400 km. Greece operated two aircraft in the AEW-200 version, with onboard operator stations, between 2003 and 2010. Sweden's AEW-300, delivered in 2009, is NATO-interoperable. The aircraft has also been bought by Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Poland, and in 2024 Sweden handed over two ASC 890s to Ukraine.