Summary The E-7A Wedgetail replaces the aging E-3 Sentry, providing the US Air Force with enhanced capabilities. The E-7A Wedgetail offers air-moving target indicator capability crucial for air superiority. Interoperability with allied air forces like the Royal Australian Air Force is a key benefit of the E-7A Wedgetail.
To complete a successful week for the Boeing corporation, Boeing announced on August 9 that the US Air Force has awarded Boeing a $2.56 billion contract for two rapid prototype E-7A AEW&C Wedgetail aircraft. The E-7A is the replacement of the E-3 AWACS, and the E-7A Wedgetail is already in the service of several key air forces allied with the US Air Force.
E-3 Sentry “takes a miracle” to fly daily According to an October 21, 2021 Air & Spaces Magazine report , not just was the E-3 Sentry was first brought online in 1977, but the Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly shared at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space & Cyber conference in September that, “There’s a reason why exactly zero airlines around the globe fly the 707.
Because it takes a miracle ...
every day just to get it up in the air.” A 47-year-old airframe, as pictured below, based on a 1950s design is clearly a maintenance challenge. Additionally, according to the same Air & Spaces Magazine report, the E-7A Wedgetail offers the US Air Force the ability to gain an air-moving-target-indicator capability.
According to ScienceDirect , this is a pulsed radar using Doppler frequency ca.