RAF Wedgetail programme reaches ‘significant milestone’
Work begins in UK on installing radar on aircraft fuselages
Section 46 fuselage sections of the first pair of E-7 Wedgetail Mk1 AEW&C aircraft for the UK RAF have arrived at the STS Aviation Services conversion site in Birmingham.
This was hailed by Air Cdre Richard Barrow, MoD Senior Responsible Owner for the E-7 Wedgetail programme, as ‘a significant milestone’.
Section 46 is the part of the fuselage where the Northrop Grumman-made Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array radar will be installed on a B-737 commercial aircraft fuselage (the basis for the Wedgetail platform), prime contractor Boeing noted on 2 November.
Wedgetail is expected to enter service with the RAF in 2023. The UK has ordered five aircraft with a predicted out-of-service date of 2045, Shephard Defence Insight notes.
As well as STS Aviation Services, other key subcontractors include Leonardo and Thales UK (defensive aids including the Elix-IR threat warning system and Vicon XF intelligent countermeasures dispensing system).
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