One of the most shocking cuts made by Pete Hegseth last summer was the cancellation of the E3 replacement by the E7.
US AWACS Cancellation Leaves NATO Scrambling
For 50 years, an airplane with a giant mushroom on top has been the crux of aerial warfare. As that era ends, it’s unclear what comes next.
By Michael Peck
The E-3 Sentry AWACS (airborne warning and control system) was more than a Boeing 707 converted into a flying radar station and command post. AWACS has become a meme, and its dome-shaped rotating antenna was the symbol of an eye in the sky that kept ceaseless vigil from 30,000 feet high.
Now, though, the AWACS may be going the way of the dodo, as the US military appears ready to discard big, expensive aerial early warning (AEW) aircraft in favor of a mixture of cheaper Cold War-era radar planes and cutting-edge space sensors. For the US military, this may just be a change in doctrine. For NATO, which has relied for years on the AWACS and planned to buy the now-cancelled E-7 Wedgetail, this could lead to a scramble to find a European-built replacement.
AEW aircraft have become the nerve centers for advanced air forces. The concept of flying radar stations dates back to the end of World War II, such as the US Navy’s Project Cadillac. An aerial platform offers longer range than ground-based radars, can detect low-flying aircraft, and enjoys the mobility to bring radar coverage to where it is needed.
By the 1960s, US Air Force EC-121 and carrier-based US Navy E-2 Hawkeyes (still in service today) were proving invaluable in the Vietnam War. Today, several nations have developed AEW aircraft, mostly derived from airliners, military cargo planes, or business-class jets. These include Russia’s A-50, China’s KJ-2000, Israel’s Oron and Sweden’s GlobalEye. Other nations — including Australia, India, Korea and Turkey — have rigged up their own AEW aircraft by mix-and-matching various aircraft with radars such as Israel’s Phalcon.
But the E-3 has special significance for NATO, both as an aircraft and a symbol of alliance unity. NATO currently operates 14 E-3s manned by multinational crews flying out of Geilenkirchen, Germany. In addition, France also has four E-3s, while Britain only recently retired its planes. It’s hard to imagine either
the US or NATO conducting any significant air campaign without these aircraft playing a key role as airborne sensors and command posts.
The E-3’s retirement was inevitable: the airframe and electronics are aging, maintenance is difficult, and spare parts are expensive and difficult to procure. It was also logical to assume that the E-3’s successor would be broadly similar to the original. AWACS 2.0 arrived in the form of the E-7, another converted Boeing 737 airliner, with a Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar that electronically aims multiple beams rather than the rotating antenna. Comparing the E-3 to an E-7 feels like comparing a 1970s TV set to a modern LED computer monitor.
https://cepa.org/article/us-awacs-cancellation-leaves-nato-scrambling/
In the Middle East one E3 was destroyed by an Iranian attack:
Images circulating online appear to show the destruction of a U.S. Air Force E-3G Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft following a reported Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
The aircraft, identified in open source reporting as belonging to the 552nd Air Control Wing, appears to have suffered severe damage concentrated around the rear fuselage, where the E-3’s radar dome and associated surveillance systems are housed. That section contains critical components of the aircraft’s AN/APY-2 radar, central to its airborne command and control role.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/us-e-3-awacs-reportedly-destroyed-in-iranian-strike/
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