E-7 Wedgetail Radar Jets Eyed As A Bridge To A Space-Based System By The Air Force
The Air Force needs a replacement for its aging E-3 Sentries, and off-the-shelf E-7 Wedgetails could fill the gap until a satellite capability emerges.
By Joseph Trevithick September 23, 2021
The War Zone
The U.S. Air Force is now actively looking into the possibility of buying a fleet of E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft. The service’s top uniformed officer says that these aircraft could provide a "path" from the retirement of the aging fleet of E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System jets, or AWACSs, and a future space-based radar capability.
Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, as well as Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and General Mark Kelly, head of Air Combat Command (ACC), all made comments this week about the potential value of acquiring E-7s at the Air Force Association's (AFA) annual Air, Space, and Cyber Conference, which ended yesterday. General Kenneth Wilsbach, the commander of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), had been the first to publicly issue a call for the service to buy Wedgetails back in February, which we covered in detail. General Jeffrey Harrigian, head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), has since offered his support for the idea, as well.
USAF
A U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.
“We are doing internal analysis,” General Brown told reporters on Tuesday. “The E-7 is a good platform.”
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42487/e-7-wedgetail-radar-jets-eyed-as-a-bridge-to-a-space-based-system-by-air-force
