Airframer Boeing has started assembling the inaugural example of the US Air Force’s new airborne early warning and control jet.
A 737-700 fuselage produced by Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas, arrived via rail at Boeing’s 737 assembly facility in Renton, Washington on 22 January. The fuselage is to become the first of two planned E-7A Wedgetail rapid prototypes contracted for by the US Air Force.
Footage released by Boeing shows the mint-green fuselage rolling tail-first into the Renton facility, complete with the caption, “The global fleet is growing”.
Boeing last year said the USAF’s first E-7A prototype would depart Renton in 2025 in a business-jet configuration and be delivered to the airframer’s defence unit, where it will be modified to include full military capabilities. The process includes the integration of mission systems and structural modifications to support the Wedgetail’s large dorsal-mounted radar.
A contract for the prototyping effort was finalised in 2024, which the air force says is valued at just over $2.5 billion. The air force expects to make a prodcution decision advancing the E-7A programme in fiscal year 2026, with the two prototype jets delivered in FY2028.
The USAF selected Wedgetails in 2022 to replace its ageing fleet of 707-based E-3 Sentry aircraft. Fleets data from aviation analytics firm Cirium indicates the service’s 31 E-3s have an average age of 45 years.
Plans call for a US fleet of 26 E-7As. The type’s improved capabilities are expected to compensate for the service having fewer E-7As than E-3s.
Wedgetails carry fixed Northrop Grumman multi-role electronically scanned-array radar antennas mounted atop their fuselages, rather than the E-3’s older rotating-disc radars.
The new aircraft are also expected to be more reliable than the Sentry. USAF officials have publicly highlighted the E-3’s obsolescence and maintenance challenges.
General Kenneth Wilsbach, current head of Air Combat Command, noted in 2022 that four E-3s assigned to the USAF’s Pacific command were often simultaneously grounded.
“When it gets airborne, those sensors that we rely on with the E-3 aren’t really capable in the 21st-century fight, especially against a platform like the [Chengdu] J-20 or something similar to that,” Wilsbach said during his time as commander of Pacific Air Forces.
The twin-engined J-20 is believed to fill an air-superiority role within the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and is often positioned as China’s equivalent to Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35 and the USA’s Lockheed Martin F-22.
Boeing says E-7As offer “unparalleled advanced airborne moving-target indication” that will deliver “first-to-detect, first-to-engage” advantages.
The Wedgetail’s airborne battle-management systems will enable integration with next-generation autonomous fighter jets being developed by the Pentagon to support conventional fighters and bombers. The air force calls the autonomous vehicles Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs).
Boeing is developing one such CCA – the MQ-28 Ghost Bat – for the Royal Australian Air Force, which was also the inaugural E-7A operator. Six Wedgetails are in service with the RAAF, according to Cirium fleets data.
South Korea and Turkey also operate the E-7A, each with four examples.
Other planned Wedgetail operators include the UK Royal Air Force, with a planned fleet of three, and NATO, which plans to acquire six E-7As to replace 14 E-3s.
The UK’s initial aircraft completed its first flight in 2024, with delivery to the RAF expected this year.
