Australia’s Troubled E-7A “Wedgetail” AWACS Program
Mar 02, 2023 04:58 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
Latest update [?]
MESA radar
March 2/23: First USAF Deal Boeing won a $1.2 billion contract action for the E-7A Rapid Prototype program. This contract provides for the initiation of the development activities for the program. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be complete by August 2024. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. The E-7A Wedgetail “will provide advanced Airborne Moving Target Indication and Battle Management, Command, and Control capabilities, and advanced Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array radar that enhances airborne battle management and enables long-range kill chains with potential peer adversaries,” the Air Force said. The E-7A was originally developed for Australia, and has also been adopted by the U.K. By leveraging allied investment in the E-7A, the US aims to acquire the new AWACS replacements more quickly than would otherwise be possible.
The above update is a recent abstract from our full article, itself part of our subscription offering. Keep reading to know more.
E-7A Wedgetail
over New South Wales
(click to view full)
The island continent of Australia faces a number of unique security challenges that stem from its geography. The continent may be separated from its neighbors by large expanses of ocean, but it also resides within a potential arc of instability, and has a number of important offshore resource sites to protect. Full awareness of what is going on around them, and the ability to push that awareness well offshore, are critical security requirements.
“Project Wedgetail” had 3 finalists, and the winner was a new variant of Boeing’s 737-700, fitted with an MESA (multirole electronically scanned array) radar from Northrop Grumman. That radar exchanges the traditional AWACS rotating dome for the E-7A’s “top hat” stationary antenna. That design, and the project as a whole, have run into severe turbulence, creating problems for Boeing earnings, the ADF, and other export orders for the type. DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This one covers contracts, events, and key milestones within Australia’s E-7A program, from inception to the current day.
Displaying 339 of 9,036 words (about 23 pages)
Project Wedgetail: Program and Participants
The Competition
Program & Industrial Team
Contracts & Key Events
2019-Today
2018
2017
2015
2014
2011 – 2013
2009 – 2010
2007 – 2008
2005 – 2006
2003 – 2004
2001 – 2002
2000 and Earlier
Additional Readings
The Aircraft
News & Views
E-7A Cutaway
(click to view full)
KC-135 & E-7
(click to view full)
Flares test
(click to view full)
COPE NORTH 2012
(click to view full)
(click to view full)
Airworthiness test
(click to view full)
Wedgetai over Sydney
(click to view full)
E-7A Wedgetail
(click to view full)
E-7A Wedgetail
over New South Wales
(click to view full)
Manufacturing line
(click to view full)
MESA radar assembly
(click to view full)
Fill in the secure form below to activate your subscription right away (or pick another plan)
One-stop tracking
Our coverage for each program of record is centralized in one article to save time and provide comprehensive context.
Catch up with new events
Recent updates are highlighted upfront to make it easy to stay on top of programs over their lifecycle.
Table of contents
The table of contents can be moved on the side or folded to help you navigate within our reports.
Exec summary
Quickly catch up with just the latest updates, main events and milestones by hiding more granular details.
Media gallery
Each article comes with a gallery of relevant contextual images, charts, and videos.
Clean printouts
Our articles print beautifully, without any of the clutter that often gets in the way on the web.
Save as PDF
Exporting to the Adobe PDF format lets you read our content offline.
Subscribe for more
Check out our subscription plans to access our extensive defense program coverage.