On Friday, August 9, 2024, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center of the USAF Logistics Command from Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, signed a contract valued at 2,560,846,860 USD with Boeing Military Aircraft (a division of Boeing Defense, Space, and Security) from Tukwila, Washington, for the production of the first two E-7A Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft.
Image: Boeing
Under the contract, Boeing will deliver two E-7A Wedgetail prototypes in a configuration representative of the production variant, in accordance with the operational requirements of the U.S. Air Force (USAF), with a completion date set for August 28, 2029, as part of the E-7A Rapid Prototyping phase. As stated in a separate Boeing press release, the contract also includes life-cycle development work, training, and operational support.
“Global operators are proving that the E-7 AEW&C is a critical node for air superiority in the modern battlespace,” said Boeing Vice President and E-7 Program Manager Stu Voboril. “In our partnership with the U.S. Air Force, we’re focused on stable, predictable execution to deliver crucial mission-ready capabilities today. This will put us on the path for the long-term growth of the aircraft and mission.”
“Our customers have an urgent need for integrated battlespace awareness and battle management,” said Dan Gillian, vice president and general manager of Boeing Defense, Space & Security’s Mobility, Surveillance & Bombers division. “The E-7A is the airspace lynchpin to continuously scan the skies, command and control the battlespace, and integrate all-domain data providing a decisive advantage against threats. With our open systems architecture approach, capabilities can be rapidly inserted over time as threats evolve.”
This is an annex to the contract in the form of Undefinitized Contract Actions (UCA), which originally had a maximum value of 1.2 billion USD, and it extends the contract to the previously mentioned amount. The base contract was signed on February 28, 2023 (at which time the first funds of 134 million USD were also allocated).
The Boeing’s design was identified as the preferred choice by the U.S. Air Force (Department of the Air Force) on April 26, 2022, as part of a market research study initiated on February 8 of the same year. On October 20, 2022, Boeing was also commissioned to provide detailed information about the E-7A in the context of a potential replacement for the E-3G.
A total of 26 aircraft may eventually be ordered. In the fiscal year 2023 budget request, the commencement of the retirement of 15 out of 31 E-3G Sentry aircraft was approved, which was intended to secure funding for the purchase of the first E-7A aircraft. It is anticipated that Boeing will subsequently receive two large-scale production orders, including the first for approximately 16 aircraft in 2025.
The 27 E-3G Sentry aircraft are under the command of Air Combat Command, while 4 are under the command of the USAF Pacific Command. Their operational readiness is estimated at 45%.
Interestingly, as early as February 2021, Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, the commander of PACAF (Pacific Air Forces), recommended the purchase of E-7A aircraft. The platform was also praised by then-USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. In December 2021, USAF Secretary Frank Kendall confirmed his support for their acquisition, and at the beginning of 2022, an Australian E-7A participated in the Red Flag 22-1 exercise in Nevada, where it collaborated with F-35A and F-22A aircraft.
The E-7A, or more precisely the Boeing 737 AEW&C, configured similarly to the 737-700ER, is equipped with a Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar, operating in the L-band. This radar can detect objects at distances of up to 600 km (for high-altitude targets) and up to 370 km (for low-flying, harder-to-detect aircraft). It can track up to 180 targets simultaneously, guiding other aircraft to intercept 24 of them. The radar can also detect surface targets the size of a missile frigate from a distance of over 240 km. In the mode of detecting electromagnetic signals (Electronic Intelligence, ELINT), the E-7A has an effective range of over 850 km when operating at an altitude of 9,000 meters. The radar was designed by Northrop Grumman.
The E-7A aircraft are currently in service with Australia, which has 6 units, as well as South Korea (4 units known as the E-737 Peace Eye, with plans to purchase 2 more) and Turkey (4 units known as the E-7T Peace Eagle). Soon, they will be joined by the United Kingdom (3 units with an option for 2 more), where they will be designated as Wedgetail AEW1, and NATO as part of the Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) program, with an initial order of 6 units.
From October 2023 to April 2024, one Australian aircraft provided support to NATO allies, conducting flights over Poland as part of Operation Kudu and was stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Thank you, @USAirForce, for your partnership to build two Rapid Prototype E-7A aircraft and set the course for "first to detect, first to engage" mission advantage.
Release: https://t.co/sNElAlDNlK pic.twitter.com/Adshxks0pe
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) August 9, 2024