Saab and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems have flight-tested a Saab LoyalEye airborne early-warning radar on a GA-ASI MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft, with the companies reporting detection, tracking and classification of airborne targets in a representative operational scenario. The test took place at GA-ASI’s Desert Horizon Flight Operations Facility in Southern California, according to Defence Industry Europe’s report.
The more detailed account from EDR Magazine says the radar simultaneously tracked several airborne and maritime targets at long ranges. The airborne set included multiple instrumented red fighter jets and several commercial aircraft. EDR Magazine reports that the radar was installed on the MQ-9B using payload pods and that the flight-testing programme had been conducted over several months.
That establishes the reported test function as airborne early-warning sensing and multi-target tracking, with Saab also attributing target classification to the flight test. It does not establish a deployed operational capability: the reports describe flight testing and customer discussions, not procurement, delivery or entry into service.
The test conditions publicly described are limited to the aircraft, payload-pod installation, test facility and representative scenario. Neither report provides the radar’s operating band, instrumented detection ranges, track accuracy, target aspects, environmental conditions or classification performance. “Long range” therefore remains a qualitative claim rather than a measured result.
Both reports describe the MQ-9B-based system as complementary to crewed airborne early-warning and control aircraft. The stated operating concept is persistent surveillance from an uncrewed platform, either independently or alongside crewed AEW&C assets; the available evidence supports that as the system’s intended role, not as a verified operational deployment.