Chile officially receives two E-3 Sentry aircraft donated by the UK

Chile’s Minister of Defense led the ceremony to receive the two Boeing E-3D Sentry Mk 1, donated by the United Kingdom to the Chilean Air Force (FACh).

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The first of the two E-3D Sentry had arrived in Santiago de Chile on July 27. It was the aircraft with registration number ZH103 (assigned by the Royal Air Force), which landed at the II Air Brigade at 18:20 local time. The other aircraft received had the registration ZH106.

Vea también: [Gallery] The first Boeing E-3D Sentry of the Chilean Air Force arrived in Santiago

These aircraft will replace the Condor, the only AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft that the Chilean Air Force had, and whose operability had been greatly reduced in recent years.

The Chilean Air Force selected a third E-3D ex RAF, but this aircraft will not perform operational missions, but will be used as a source of spare parts.

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Ministra de Defensa encabeza ceremonia de recepción de los dos ✈️ Boeing E-3D Sentry Mk 1, provenientes de Reino Unido, aeronaves que aumentan nuestra capacidad de alerta temprana, vigilancia, exploración, y reconocimiento aeroespacial y que reemplazarán al querido ?️ “Cóndor” pic.twitter.com/bMtWIeAWdp

— Ministerio de Defensa Nacional (@mindefchile) August 19, 2022

The story so far

According to rumors, between mid and late 2021, the United Kingdom approached the Chilean Ministry of Defense with an offer for the E-3D AEW1. This represents a common practice, since Chile is the UK’s main ally in the region and there is a long history of transfer of surplus war material between both nations, particularly for the Chilean Navy, which operated and operates several ex-Royal Navy ships, with good results.

The FACh quickly organized a technical commission and sent it to England to evaluate the condition of the aircraft. The commission recommended the purchase of the three E-3Ds, ZH 101 (c/n 24109/993), ZH 103 (c/n 24111/1004) and ZH 106 (c/n 24114/1011), leaving the two in better condition for operational roles, and a third as a source of spare parts.

Since the beginning of 2022, a team of Chilean Air Force aircrew and technical personnel were in the United Kingdom training and adapting to the new AWACS system.

Delayed, but not wasted

The Sentry should have arrived in Chile months ago, but the outbreak of war in Ukraine disrupted these plans, as the RAF had to deploy them to monitor Russian air operations over Ukraine and control the territorial integrity of NATO’s Eastern Front.

However, this could have represented a golden opportunity for the Chilean crews, as they were probably able to deepen their training in the new system, flying RAF E-3Ds in real tactical operational situation.