Inside The Air Force’s Flying Radar Fleet

As the recent Chinese spy balloon encounter showed, keeping the skies safe is a tough job. For decades the U.S. Air Force has relied on the E-3 Sentry, and the most recent version, the E-3G, has been upgraded with more modern electronics and software to keep up with new threats.

'The best way to describe it is kind of like the quarterback in the sky," said Air Force Col. Keven Coyle, commander of the 552nd Air Control Wing. "It's the job of the E-3 to surveil, to layout the enemies arrayed, and then allow our friendly forces to be able to be set up in a way that allows them to fight with the greatest capacity."

The Air Force is hoping that the E-7 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft built by Boeing can take over down the line if the Air Force needs to retire some of the older Sentry aircraft over the coming years. In the most recent budget, Congress appropriated an additional $200 million for the Air Force to develop a prototype to meet that need.

"Congress has approved the money for the first two prototypes, which is a very good thing for the Air Force," said Lt. Col. Peter "Beast" Bastien, Air Combat Command directorate of plans, programs and requirements, airborne weapons systems and futures chief. "On the other hand, there's a physical limitation on how fast you can turn a roll of aluminum into an E-7."

The age of the E-3s has made replacement parts more difficult to procure, and the mechanical breakdowns inherent in such an old aircraft are impacting mission rates. Congress prohibited the Air Force from starting to retire the bulk of the current fleet of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft until the Secretary of the Air Force submits an acquisition strategy to Congress for a replacement. But even then, it could be years until a replacement is operational.

"Having the first one out in 2027 is not bad from an acquisition point of view, " said Daniel Goure, senior vice president with the Lexington Institute, "Even for a system that's been in some variants in the field for a long time, that's pretty darn quick, but if there is a way to get them quicker we really need to consider that in order to make sure that we don't lose the capability because of a problem with the aging AWACS."

Watch the video above to get a look inside the Air Force's E-3G Sentry.

Chapters:
02:55 — Radar changes warfare
03:55 — The E-3 Sentry
06:16 — Controlling the battlespace
08:15 — What’s next?

Produced by: Brad Howard
Supervising Producer: Jeff Morganteen
Animations: Jason Reginato
Additional Footage: The NATO Channel, Department of Defense
Special Thanks to: 552nd ACW, 966th AACS, 960th AACS, 552nd Maintenance Squadron

Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide.

Connect with CNBC News Online

#CNBC
#cnbctv

How The Air Force's Aging E-3 Sentry Stirs Questions Of Airborne-Battle Readiness

[Errr]

It's amazing that the AWACS is still in operation. My first job out college was working as a software engineer for Boeing in Seattle on the E-3A for a couple of years before it was delivered. I had to learn JOVIAL (Jules Own Version of ALGOL) but since it was basically a derivative of ALGOL I was able to start on my assignment within a week. There were about 300 software engineers on one side of an old WW2 building, and 200 hardware engineers on the other side. We had our own test plane in Seattle but we had to send the program (on tape reels) to Tinker every week for the Air Force to test the system.

[dexterplameras]

As an Australian I'm surprised and glad that our USA allies and friends will be training on an Australian procured Aircraft. I didn't realise that the Wedge Tail was an upgrade over the E3. It's normally the other way around as the USA has the most advanced military in the world.On a side note the aircraft is named after the Australian Wedge Tail Eagle.

[atgn-]

This is the first aircraft I got to stare at for 12 hours in Security Forces, it was mildly more exciting than the KC-10s.

[cjr]

Probably one of the coolest airplanes. They look so cool in movies/videos games just being the over watch and sending info to the ground units ❤️

[danielmontoya]

Loved hooking up to the AWACS on the ground. No need for ground based radars. A lot easier to move that heavy stuff around on the ground! Thanks guys! ❤️

[DulceDeLecheeee]

This dude looking like Tai Lopez. Thought he was gonna talk about his Lamborghini collection in his garage.

[valuedhumanoid]

This is the Air Force AWAC platform. The USN has their own. It is currently the E-2C Hawkeye being replaced with the much upgraded E-2D Advanced Hawkeye. They are being phased into service. The first operational deployment was on the USS Theodore Roosevelt on their 2015 cruise.

[Erik-ggvb]

A few years ago I met my old Motocross racing buddy for a Supercross race in Las Vegas. He had a career in Florida as a maintenance tech for F-15's. With his credentials we entered Nellis AFB. I had a new Iphone and took some pictures of the E-3 AWAC that was about 1/4 mile away across the flight line. A guy and girl came out of the building behind us and ask me if I just took some photos of the E-3. I had to give them my phone so they could delete the shots.

[Horace]

Quarterback in the sky... How American is that... Like everyone in the world knows what's a quarterback lollll

[TaeliusClips]

The phrase "To put it in context, if the E-3 was a car in Virginia, it would qualify for antique license plates." sums up how old the E-3 is.

The Air Force announced in 2022 that it will replace part of the E-3 Sentry fleet with Boeing E-7 Wedgetails, which are twin-engine airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation (737NG) design.

[michaelclarke]

I was an Airborne Radar Tech (ART) on the AWACS in the late 80s-early 90’s. It was a pretty kick ass job.

[barryklinedinst]

The side with the best information wins

[stevenevans]

Excellent video, ex crew chief of the first KC10 delivered to the Air Force here.

[JohnGemhunterDX]

The E-3 Sentry is one reason the US maintains the #1 military in the world. That said, like the F-22s being replaced by the easier and cheaper to maintain F-35 jets being fitted with more advanced tech, as the military advances our capabilities with advanced stealth bombers, so will go the E-3 Sentry. Soon we will see more advanced aircraft to seamlessly replace the E-3 with better tech and easier maintenance capabilities and cost...Just sayin'

[solvend]

Was the 1st airframe i worked on in the USAF. Was so excited to leave Tinker AFB and head to a fighter base. I'll take A10s, F16s, F15s all day over an E3.

Pita to work on, aircraft wash, etc. Although I did reenlist atop the dome in the phase dock.

[tylermccall]

Dude from 6:42 really resembles will smith!👨‍🎤

[willywychtyg]

the AWACS plane and the SR-71 Blackbird are the two aircrafts which fascinated me the most for all times. Allegedly the AWACS radar plane is able to communicate interdimensional, i.e. they can exchange information betwenn parallel universes.. The SR-71 is said to be the only plane that is able to manage and perform time jumps, just like the DeLorean in the BTTF franchise. When you think about recent developments it all makes sense.

[census]

Why don’t they develop the 767 AWAC like the Japanese Air Force. The KC-46 is already in the fleet a 767 AWACS would budget as it’s a type already in the fleet.

[SSGTStryker]

Outstanding 🫡! As a retired NCO version of your role, 1C5 C2 Battle Management Systems Operator, thanks for doing such an in-depth story on the E-3 and our overall AC&W mission.

[recentral]

Living in OKC near the base, you see these things all the time. It's so cool to be driving on I40 and watch one of them go over your head to land.