Boeing and the US Air Force (USAF) have agreed pricing terms for a prototype batch of two E-7 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, while a UK Royal Air Force (RAF) programme to field three of the same type continues to advance.
The airframer has been conducting work in support of the USAF’s E-7 rapid prototyping activity since February 2023, with the US Department of Defense having disclosed the following month that its cost would not exceed $1.2 billion.
Production work on the airframes is already under way, says Dan Gillian, vice-president and general manager, mobility, surveillance and bombers. “The first E-7s will fly next year as a BBJ [Boeing Business Jet], and then we will induct them for modification next year,” he adds.
A joint final design review activity was recently completed, and “we are working towards contract award”, Gillian told FlightGlobal at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on 20 July.
“Getting the requirements right up front is an essential part of development programmes, and getting our pricing right, with our suppliers, ourselves and the air force,” he says. “We arrived at what I think is a fair price for the government, and it reflects the actual cost we think it will take to execute this programme on time.”
The E-7 deal is the first major USAF award for Boeing Defense, Space & Security since it entered into an earlier string of fixed-price development activities which led to it experiencing painful cost overruns, including on the KC-46A tanker and T-7A advanced jet trainer.
The company is committed to delivering the E-7 prototypes within a 60-month timeframe.
Gillian says a central part of the programme will involve the use of a new open architecture mission system. The USAF’s configuration will use the standard currently being prepared for RAF service as its baseline, and will feature enhanced satellite communications capability.
“The three airplanes we’re building for the UK have really reset the infrastructure of the airplane,” he says.
Once fielded, the E-7 will be a “huge enabler for the [US] air force and the joint force”, he says. The USAF plans to acquire a 26-strong fleet to replace its aged Boeing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.
In addition to the E-7 production activity for the USAF, NATO also is expecting to field the surveillance type as a replacement for NATO’s AWACS fleet, with the alliance having outlined an initial requirement for six.
Gillian believes the global Wedgetail fleet could eventually total 50-70 aircraft, also including the RAF’s yet-to-be-fielded examples and in-service jets flown by Australia (6), South Korea (4) and Turkey (4).
Meanwhile, the first of three heavily adapted airframes to have been converted to the E-7 Wedgetail configuration for the UK customer has completed ground engine runs.
Gillian visited Boeing Defence UK’s conversion partner STS Aviation Services in Birmingham ahead of RIAT.
“The airplanes are in good shape,” he says, adding: “the first has completed all its engine runs and is ready to go fly. We’re very close to that happening, and aircraft two and three are following on schedule with the plans we have in place.”
The RAF expects to declare initial operational capability with its Wedgetail AEW1 system in 2025 at its Lossiemouth base in Scotland, with the type to replace its already-retired E-3D Sentrys. “We’re tracking well to that [schedule],” Gillian says.
