Boeing E-7 Wedgetail

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has signed a $1.98Bn deal to purchase five E-7 early warning radar aircraft.

The E-7 fleet will replace the current Sentry aircraft and ensure the continued delivery of the UK’s Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) capability.

Named “Wedgetail” by the Australian Department for Defence, the E-7 aircraft can fly for long periods of time and manage the battlespace from the sky.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

The E-7 provides a technological edge in an increasingly complex battlespace, allowing our ships and aircraft to track and target adversaries more effectively than ever. This deal also strengthens our vital military partnership with Australia.

We will operate state-of-the-art F-35 jets and world-class Type-26 warships, and this announcement will help us work even more closely together to tackle the global threats we face.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, said:

Today’s announcement about the procurement of five E-7 ‘Wedgetail’ Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft is excellent news for both the RAF and wider Defence. This world-class capability, already proven with our Royal Australian Air Force partners, will significantly enhance our ability to deliver decisive airborne command and control and builds on the reputation of our E3D Sentry Force.

Along with Defence’s investment in other cutting-edge aircraft, E-7 will form a core element of the Next Generation Air Force, able to overcome both current and future complex threats.

The new fleet will be able to track multiple airborne and maritime targets at the same time, using the information it gathers to provide situational awareness and direct other assets such as fighter jets and warships.

The E-7 is a proven aircraft that is currently in-service with the Royal Australian Air Force and has been used on operations in the battle against Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

The E-7 is based on a standard Boeing 737 NG airliner modified to carry a sophisticated Northrop Grumman active electronically-scanned radar. This can cover four million square kilometres over a 10-hour period.

Modification of the aircraft will be carried out in the UK, sustaining over 200 highly skilled jobs at Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group in Cambridge, and there will also be opportunities for British suppliers to be involved in future training and support arrangements.

This announcement builds on a growing military capability and industrial relationship between the UK and Australia, after the Australian government selected the British Type 26 design for its future frigate.

John wrote:

"Ministers have been accused of risking national security by buying second hand Chinese 737 airliners to convert into new spy planes in a bid to save money.

The five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft costing £1.5billion have been ordered from Boeing to deliver the UK’s Airborne Early Warning and Control capability, from 2023 from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. Information gathered by E-7s would be used by the Armed Forces to keep watch on fighter jets or warships by enemy powers.

However the Government has admitted that two of the five new RAF Wedgetail spy planes were previously operated by commercial airlines in China."

A quote from my Sunday rag.

First UK Wedgetail arrives for conversion by STS

By Craig Hoyle11 January 2021

A former Deer Jet-operated Boeing 737NG which will be modified into an E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) arrived at its UK conversion site earlier this month.

Currently registered as N946BC, the narrowbody arrived at the Birmingham airport facilities of STS Aviation Services on 7 January, following a 6h flight from Bangor, Maine, in the USA.

Narrowbody touched down at Birmingham airport on 7 January

Cirium fleets data records the twinjet as having previously been operated in a 737-BBJ1 configuration, with 29 seats. First flown in June 2010, before undergoing conversion for VIP operations, it was used by Deer Jet under the registration B-5273 – via China’s AVIC International Leasing – before being acquired by Boeing in June 2019.

Boeing Defence UK managing director Anna Keeling describes the milestone as “a major accomplishment”.

“While hundreds of people throughout the UK and around the world have been working on this programme since the contract was signed, we now have the airframe that will become the RAF’s first Wedgetail in the country,” she notes.

Former Boeing Business Jet will be adapted for airborne early warning duties

The other pre-owned asset scheduled to undergo conversion for the RAF was also originally ordered by Deer Jet. Now registered as N947BC and first flown in June 2011, the platform saw use with Deer Jet’s sister VIP operators Hongkong Jet, and Business Aviation Services Guernsey, as well as Bermuda firm Longtail Aviation, Cirium fleet records show.

In addition to these two airframes, the UK will also field a trio of new-build 737-700s, to complete its E-7 fleet. Ordered via a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) acquisition to replace aged 707-based E-3D Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft, the fleet will be based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, alongside the RAF’s 737NG-based P-8A Poseidon MRA1 maritime patrol aircraft.

UK Wedgetail AEW1 fleet deliveries are expected to occur in the 2023-2024 period.

Boeing last May named STS as its in-country conversion partner, and in mid-2020 delivered the first tooling and parts to support the work. This included delivering reinforced Section 46 fuselage sections, which are needed to accommodate the Wedgetail system’s Northrop Grumman Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array radar.

Twinjet will be modified to carry Northrop Grumman surveillance radar atop its fuselage

Once converted, the aircraft will accommodate 10 onboard operator workstations for airborne and maritime surveillance, plus battle management duties.

Boeing notes that UK personnel have been training with launch Wedgetail operator the Royal Australian Air Force since 2018 in support of the E-7 programme. Canberra has a six-strong fleet of the type, which it has used to support combat operations in Iraq.