UK RAF Wedgetail AEW&C completes first flight
Boeing’s first RAF Wedgetail takes to the skies. (Photo: Boeing/Crown Copyright)
Boeing has completed the first flight of a UK Royal Air Force (RAF) E-7 Wedgetail and conducted functional checks marking a significant milestone in the programme’s test and evaluation phase.
The aircraft is in service with Australia, South Korea and Turkey with two rapid prototype E-7 aircraft being built for the US Air Force. In 2023, NATO announced the selection of the E-7 for its Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) mission.
NATO gave approval to the purchase of six aircraft in November 2023 and the first aircraft has been planned to achieve operational capability in 2031 by which time the alliance’s E-3As will have been in service for more than four decades.
The deal was described by NATO as ‘one of NATO’s biggest-ever capability purchases’ and with Shephard Defence Insight estimating unit cost at US$392 million (based on the UK purchase), the order could be worth as much as $2.4 billion.
The E-7 detects and identifies adversarial targets at long range and tracks multiple airborne and maritime threats simultaneously with 360° coverage via the Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) sensor. It provides the warfighter with multi-domain awareness and command-and-control decision advantage.
In the next few months, following a series of flight tests and further evaluation, the aircraft will receive its RAF livery.
Related Programmes in Defence Insight
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Air Warfare
-
Hanwha Aerospace and GA-ASI join forces to co-develop UAVs
The $510 million partnership will see Hanwha invest to co-develop and manufacture the Gray Eagle STOL, with a maiden flight test expected by 2027.
-
Sweden commits to acquire four C-390 Millennium aircraft
The acquisition of four C-390 aircraft follows the country’s signing of an MoU in 2023 and formal selection in 2024. It will join the existing contract held by the Netherlands and Austria.
-
Airbus to fly new CUAS UAV prototype this year
The counter-UAS prototype, named Low-cost Air Defence or ‘LOAD’, will be used to combat kamikaze UAS.