USAF selects Boeing E-7 Wedgetail to replace its AWACS fleet

To no one’s surprise, the U.S. Air Force has decided that the aircraft that will replace it’s aging Boeing E-3 Sentry will be the E-7 Wedgetail, also produced by Boeing.

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The USAF Materiel Command issued a press release in which, based on a market study, it reports that the Department of the Air Force has decided to replace a portion of the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control aircraft fleet with the E-7 Wedgetail, produced by The Boeing Company.

Also, the paper states that Boeing’s E-7 is the only platform capable of meeting the Department of Defense’s tactical battlefield management, command and control and moving target indication requirements in the time frame needed to replace the aging E-3.

The contract award is scheduled for fiscal year 2023

The Air Force FY 2023 budget request includes $227 million in research, development, test and evaluation funds beginning in FY 2023 for the purpose of acquiring a replacement for the E-3 AWACAS.

These funds support the acquisition of a «fast» prototype aircraft, scheduled for delivery in FY27. The theoretical timeline envisions funding for a second rapid prototype in FY24, and a decision on whether to begin serial production of this USAF-specific E-7 model would be reflected in the FY2025 budget; to continue operational deployment of the aircraft.

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As we advanced in the note on the USAF’s proposed FY2023 budget, of the 31 currently operational E-3 AWCAS airborne airborne warning aircraft, the intent is to retire 15 units. With that savings, the intent is to accelerate development of the E-7 for replacement, as well as supplement some of those capabilities with space assets.