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RAF boss hopes for a return to a five-aircraft E-7 buy

6th February 2023 - 17:00 GMT | by Harry Lye in London

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An Australian RAAF E-7 Wedgetail. (Photo: UK MoD/ Crown Copyright)

While the RAF may hope to return to its original plan for a five-strong E-7 AEW fleet, the service will still have to wait until 2024 to receive its first aircraft.

Speaking to MPs, the head of the Royal Air Force (RAF), Chief of the Air Staff ACM Sir Mike Wigston, expressed an ambition to increase the service's scaled-back purchase of three Boeing E-7 Wedgetails.

Initially, the RAF planned to buy five of the surveillance aircraft; however, this number was reduced to three.

Speaking to Parliament’s Defence Committee on 1 February, Wigston said: ‘Our original analysis identified that the number to give our political decision-makers choice, to bring resilience to the force and to add the value you talk about from this phenomenal platform, which really multiplies the force, was

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