The US Air Force (USAF) announced yesterday (26) that it has selected the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail as a replacement for part of the veteran E-3 Sentry fleet. A contract between the Air Force and Boeing is expected to be signed in fiscal year (FY) 2023, which begins in October 2022.
The USAF claims that "The Boeing E-7 is the only platform capable of meeting the Department of Defense's requirements for tactical battle management, command and control, and mobile target indication capabilities in the time frame needed to replace the aging E-3."
Submitting the applications for FY2023, the USAF requested a grant of $227 million for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation with the E-7, to be started in FY2023. “These funds the acquisition of a prototype aircraft planned for delivery in FY2027.”
The notional schedule calls for a second prototype aircraft to be acquired in FY24 and a production contract in FY25. The Air Force Budget Committee proposed retiring 15 of the 31 E-3 Sentry aircraft, based on the old 707. The money raised from the retirement of the jets would be redirected to the E-7 project.
According to The War Zone, it remains unclear how much the USAF's E-7 variant will differ from the Wedgetails already in service in Australia, South Korea and Turkey, as well as those being built for the UK.
The Request for Information that the Air Force released in February this year indicated that there could be specific USAF requirements for radar systems, communication and battle management, electronic measures suite, network architecture and defense systems, among other things.
“The E-3 replacement will provide increased supply chain effectiveness, improved reliability/availability and reduced operating costs by integrating a modern electronically scanned array sensor into a manned platform.,” says the USAF in the FY 2023 budget request.
“Electronically Scanned Radar (AESA) is capable of much faster radar beam steering, sector looking, and target revisit rates that translate to better target detection and tracking of modern threats, as well as more robust electronic protection. which is not possible with the mechanically scanned radar used by the E-3 AWACS.”
The USAF's desire to acquire the E-7 is not exactly new. Also in September 2021, the USAF Commander, General Charles Brown Jr., revealed that the Air Force was considering purchasing the Wedgetail as a replacement for the E-3 Sentry.
“The E-7 is a good platform. It's something we're considering." said the General, stating that his team was in talks with the heads of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom (RAF) about the aircraft.
The RAAF operates six aircraft, while the RAF has ordered three. The model still operates in the Turkish Air Force and the South Korean Air Force, each with four aircraft.
Based on the 737NG, the E-7 is equipped with an AESA radar produced by Northrop Grumman. Called MESA (Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array), the sensor is mounted in a fin-like structure on the jet's fuselage, unlike the E-3's rotating dome, which operates a PESA (ive) radar. The MESA is capable of tracking 180 targets and conducting 24 intercepts simultaneously, in addition to being used in electronic intelligence missions.
