Saab may have stopped building cars but it's still active making a very different kind of vehicle

As a car manufacturer, Saab is unfortunately defunct, having been out of business since going bankrupt in 2011.

However, the Swedish company is still active in other fields building other things.

And one of those builds will definitely surprise most people.

That’s because the fighter jet you see here, believe it or not, is a Saab product.

The Saab GlobalEye is a very costly recon aircraft

While it looks like a fighter jet, the Saab GlobalEye is actually a reconnaissance aircraft.

More specifically, it’s an AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning & Control) and multi-domain surveillance aircraft.

It was built in partnership with Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, unveiled in 2015 and formally launched in 2016.

A few years later, in 2018, it took off for the first time, before fully entering service in 2020.

And it’s used in countries right around the world.

The primary active operator is the United Arab Emirates Air Force, with the Swedish Air Force and French Air Force having ordered fleets as well.

There’s room for up to nine people on board, plus the pilot and the co-pilot.

The plane can in fact require up to seven command system operators.

This aircraft also has an exceptional range: over 11,000 kilometers – equivalent to around 6,500 miles – and it’s exceptionally fast, too.

The typical top speed is Mach 0.88 – 0.89 – equivalent to 950 km/h – 1,050 km/h depending on altitude.

Its cruise speed is 933 km/h.

This military jet costs around 10 times more than its civilian counterpart

Despite being a military aircraft, the GlobalEye definitely looks a lot like a private jet, and there’s a very good reason for that.

GlobalEye is actually a heavily modified version of the Bombardier Global 6000/6500, which is a corporate jet that’s used by both military personnel and governments, and obviously private citizens with a lot of cash.

Celine Dion, Mark Cuban, Mark Wahlberg, Cristiano Ronaldo, John Travolta, and Oprah Winfrey all own or have owned Bombardier private jets.

But the main difference – or perhaps simply the most astonishing – between the civilian Bombardier 6000 and the Saab GlobalEye is the price tag.

A ‘second-hand’ Bombardier 6000/6500 will cost you between $15 million and $25 million.

The price can vary a lot depending on a few factors but that’s the ballpark.

If you want a new one, you’ll need $50+ million, and probably even more depending on how you choose to customize it.

And yet that’s still peanuts compared to the ‘MSRP’ of the Saab GlobalEye.

Each one costs around half a billion dollars to build.

For instance, the UAE placed an order for five GlobalEye worth around $2.38 billion.

If the math is mathing, we’re looking at nearly $500 million per unit, including systems, training, and integration.

But it’s a moot point, because obviously citizens aren’t allowed to buy a GlobalEye – or any other military aircraft – for private use.