By Andrew Doyle in London
Boeing last week briefed UK defence contractors on opportunities to participate in its Project Eagle bid to upgrade the UK Royal Air Force’s seven E-3D Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The modernisation will make the Sentry a hub for network-enabled operations.
The US manufacturer revealed details of its proposal in London as it and competitor Lockheed Martin finalise £4.5 million ($8.29 million) contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence to perform laboratory demonstrations of their mission systems. The Project Eagle mid-life upgrade plans call for a technical demonstration phase to run until June 2007 in a bid to reduce risk.
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“We are hoping to be on contract by the end of June,” says Boeing Project Eagle programme manager Doug Ilgenfritz.
Proposals for the second phase – mission system capability sustainment – are due in early 2007 and the winning contractor should be selected by the end of that year.
The core of Boeing’s UK proposal will be based on the Block 40/45 upgrade being developed for the 32-strong US Air Force fleet, which is about to undergo flight trials using a 33rd aircraft configured as a testbed. The project represents the first major upgrade for the 1970s-vintage mainframe-based AWACS mission system. It introduces new operator consoles with flat-panel displays, and open-architecture computing using commercial off-the-shelf equipment for lower through-life support costs.
Ilgenfritz says the upgrade will enable console operators to “manage the battle rather than managing the system”. The “most likely scenario” is that RAF Waddington-based Sentry operators will be invited to Boeing’s lab in Seattle to test the new workstations towards the end of the competitive demonstration phase.
The UK is also seeking to replace the electronic support-measures system on its E-3Ds, which Ilgenfritz says is “quite a significant vehicle modification item”.
Boeing is looking to select a UK partner to perform installation and check-out work in the UK. Ilgenfritz says the company has held discussions with BAE Systems among others.
The UK had originally planned to also implement self-protection system and radar upgrades, but these have not received funding.
EADS is upgrading mission systems of NATO’s 17 AWACS aircraft in Manching, Germany.
Source: Flight International
