Here's Why USAF Replaces E-3 Sentry with E-7 Wedgetail

The United States Air Force is at the threshold of a generational shift regarding airborne early warning capability. From the E-3 Sentry, flown for nearly half a century, the Air Force is turning to the Boeing E-7, otherwise known as the Wedgetail.

Thumbnail by Boeing

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[MichaelSmith-fgxh]

For non Aussies: "Wedgetails" are a high soaring Australian eagle, up to 2.8m/9ft wingspan, 8x better eyesight than humans (they can change the shape of their eyeball) and a hunter of a large range of prey (small kangaroos, lambs, lizards, feral cats...)

[MinnesotaGuy]

Thanks, Australia, for commissioning, funding and working to create the Wedgetail and bringing it and its community to maturity. As I understand this issue, USAF was trying for years to get a ground-up AWACS replacement funded and couldn't get the US Congress to play ball, especially in light of F-35 and other development programs going over budget. The E-3s have, as I've understood it, become alarmingly decrepit (the airframes are based upon Boeing 707s!) and well, guess what? While USAF would have undoubtedly preferred to develop it's own super, next-generation replacement for the E-3s, the fact of the matter is because USAF has been forced to burn airframe hours across its fleet for more than 2 decades now and Congress hasn't kept up with funding replacement aircraft, the USAF now finds itself in a back-against-the-wall situation. Simply put, it needs lots of new aircraft, rapidly, if it's to deter China and other authoritarian regimes around the world.
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This means, in the case of a replacement airborne command and control ("AWACS") capability for the E-3, it's out of time. It urgently needs an E-3 replacement, years ago. Therefore, if the Congress is finally willing to fund E-3 replacement, USAF now doesn't have the time or money to home brew their own perfect platform. Instead, it needs that hole plugged right now, and therefore it needs something that's off the shelf, ready to go, with the bugs all worked out, and of course, manufactured by US companies, that it can just buy and get into service. Bonus points if it's also compatible with the military forces of US allies like Australia, South Korea, Japan, UK, Israel, etc.
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And voila! That's how the Wedgetail (and the F-15EX, btw) gets purchased by USAF. Not because it was the organization's preferred platform or way of doing things, but because it's out of time and needs something that works immediately. The story for the F-15EX is similar and, of course, the people in uniform will do the best they can with the tools they have.

[jamesbeach]

i have never heard anyone call the Radar a tophat ive commonly heard it referred to as the Surfboard by RAAF personel

[julesmarwell]

nice to see my country Australia , is in the club

[michaelw]

RAAF flew 1 along the NATO border with Russia and Ukraine earlier this year. And the RAAF E-7's have been rotated to the Middle East for the last 10 years.

[patrickradcliffe]

Phased array is a game changer in weight reduction and mechanical simplicity.

[RobertTaylor-vorz]

Hi from Adelaide South Australia as a large part of this platform is sourced from the USA, I hope they won't have too many cost and performance problems when they customise it for USAF service

[mcburcke]

It only does 360° coverage by flying in a shallow "slalom" pattern due to some gaps in coverage if it flies in purely straight lines. Light-years better than the E-3 however now that the E-3 airframes and systems are rapidly becoming a nightmare to maintain and support due to the age of the systems. USAF needs to buy at least 40 of the new E-7s, maybe more, to keep from grossly over-tasking the airframes as has been the case for the E-3 since the day they were built.

[exF-]

One point being overlooked is it being based on the 737NG. I live near a regional airport rated for 737s. Wedgetails fly training in and out of it. That gives them plenty of options if they want to disperse or deploy- if it can handle a 737 it can handle a Wedgetail. There's been more than a couple of times I've had to hold while a Wedgetail did a touch and go

[Cormorant]

I've come across an article saying that the RCAF might be interested in buying a few of these. Would definitely be an upgrade for our airforce.

[trob]

I’ve been seeing the Aussie and other country E7s for years at Seattle’s Boeing field! I’m surprised it took the USAF this amount of time to contract their own E7 variant! I guess they wanted to try to get maximum years of service from their E3s!!🇺🇸

[kristensorensen]

The 707 was a beast and it can now go to the bone yard. This 737NG variant is so much less costly to acquire and operate than the old 707's we finally are getting some long overdue game changing equipment🎉🤔😤😀⚡

[grievesy]

Top hat? No no, it's the surfboard!

[dennisdec]

The Wedgetails are soon entering service with the Royal Air Force will be operated by No.8 Squadron.

[ronlucock]

Yeah, we worked out all the kinks. So much so, that at one point, the aircraft was on our "Endangered Species" List (more formally known as the "Projects of Concern" list). Once something gets on this list, it has to be fixed & brought into line very quickly, both operationally & financially, or it gets the chop. There was nothing wrong with the proven B737 aircraft, but just getting everything in it to work properly was a bit of a challenge at first.

I think part of America's problem in acquiring the aircraft sooner was that, compared to the E-3, you had trouble conceptualising how something half the size could be twice as effective. But that's just the way things are these days.

[thefrecklepuny]

The E-3. Flown for nearly half a 'Sentry'!

[anthonywalsh]

Still, the E3 looks so cool. Reminds me of the Cold War. That spinning disc. Anyway, I can fully appreciate the need to upgrade.

[seanlander]

The rest of the world waking up to what Australia has been developing for years.

[jerrycornelius]

BTW Wedgetail eagle is Australia’s biggest and most common eagle.

[peter.wilson]

This is one of those rare occasions where the tail wags the dog (US allies driving demand) which will likely result in a US aircraft procurement on budget and on time.