Geriatric E-3 Sentry Has Caused Dire Airborne Early Warning Gap: General
Howard Altman - Yesterday 12:13 PM
Air Force plans to replace a portion of its 31 aging E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) aircraft with Boeing E-7 Wedgetail radar jets cannot come to fruition soon enough for the head of Air Combat Command.
Thanks to the age and unreliability of the AWACS, there is already a capability gap in airborne early warning and command and control that is only going to get worse, Gen. Mark Kelly told reporters, including from The War Zone, last week at the Air & Space Forces Association's (AFA) 2022 Air, Space & Cyber Conference.
“The first thing I would offer is there's already – whether there's 31 airplanes or 16 airplanes – there's a gap today,” said Kelly.
The Air Force is planning to introduce E-7 Wedgetail radar jets, now used by the Royal Australian Air Force, to replace part of its fleet of E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) fleet. (U.S. Air Force photo)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/geriatric-e-3-sentry-has-caused-dire-airborne-early-warning-gap-general/ar-AA12p70g?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=3b8a8d9f2016454ea46010c11ad54fa6