Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2026 21 A E W & C DIFFERENT PROBLEMS, DIFFERENT TOOLS: CANADA'S AEW&C BET IN A SPACE AGE AEW&C platforms combine detection, tracking, and coordination into a single airborne node. Operating at altitude, their radars can see farther and track tar- gets that attempt to use terrain or clutter to evade detection. Just as importantly, they bring together sensing and decision- making in real time, allowing crews to di- rect fighters, manage airspace, and coor- dinate responses as situations unfold. None of this capability is new. AEW&C has been central to major air forces for decades. Yet, Canada has never pursued it independently in the past and is mov- ing to acquire AEW&C just as the United States is exploring whether it can move beyond it. The United States has spent the past several years exploring whether AEW&C aircraft can be largely or even entirely replaced by space-based systems. That effort progressed far enough that, in 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense moved to cancel its planned fleet of E-7 Wedgetail aircraft—Boeing's next genera- tion of AEW&C platforms—choosing to acquire only a small number after Con- gressional intervention, while still shifting significant resources toward orbital alter- natives. This juxtaposition makes Canada's deci- sion appear ill-timed. Why, after years of not acquiring its own AEW&C aircraft, is Canada choosing to invest in this capabil- ity for decades to come, even as its closest neighbour pursues an alternative? The answer is not that Canada is out of step. It is that the two countries are solving different problems from different starting points—and in doing so, they are exposing the real limits of space-based surveillance. Canada's historical lack of independent AEW&C is not an oversight so much as a reflection of geography, alliance struc- ture, and the threats it was facing. For decades, Canadian and American air defence has been organized around the joint North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The main concern for NORAD through most of its history has been to detect, and provide time to respond, to large-scale attacks—especial- ly from the Soviet Union and, later, the B Y J O N AT H A N C A S S E L S UNLIKE SOME OF ITS CLOSEST ALLIES, CANADA HAS NEVER OPERATED AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING AND CONTROL (AEW&C) AIRCRAFT. THAT IS SET TO CHANGE. FOLLOWING A RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY, CANADA HAS ENTERED INTO NEGOTIATIONS WITH SAAB TO ACQUIRE THE GLOBALEYE EARLY- WARNING SYSTEM BUILT ON THE CANADIAN-MADE BOMBARDIER GLOBAL 6500.

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