While the U.S. Air Force may buy 26 Boeing [BA] E-7 Wedgetails to replace its fleet of 16 1970s-era E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes, also by Boeing, the service is also examining how much it could save in AWACS maintenance costs.
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies recently advised the Air Force to add more than $5 billion in its fiscal 2026 budget request to buy the 26 Wedgetails to replace the 16 E-3s “in hospice care” (Defense Daily, March 20).
The Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC), based at Tinker AFB, Okla., is surveying industry on AWACS to find companies able to provide “depot level repair capability of Diminishing Manufacturing Sources Replacement of Avionics for Global Operations and Navigation (DRAGON) assets, since the government does not possess the technical data package,” according to a Monday business notice. “This contract shall provide DRAGON repair capability for the [Air Force]. Having an [Air Force] specific repair contract will streamline the repair pipeline and provide our combatant commanders and warfighters with battlefield situational awareness.”
Through DRAGON, “AWACS was upgraded from a four-person flight deck to a three-person flight deck by eliminating the navigator position and incorporating a modern Flight Management System Suite with robust architecture,” the notice said. “Specifically, it consists of a modern flight management computer and large multifunction displays for flight and engine instruments. Additionally, DRAGON includes safety features such as a flight guidance system, weather radar system, terrain awareness and warning system, wind shear detection and warning system, new and supplemental upgrades to navigation and surveillance equipment, an engine indication and crew alerting system.”
“The technical data required to organically repair or compete the repair is not owned by the government, and is uneconomical to acquire the data by purchase or to reverse engineer the item,” AFSC said. “No samples are available for potential suppliers to evaluate.”
Top Air Force officials in the Pacific have listed the E-7 buy as one of their needs.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Boeing, and Northrop Grumman [NOC] flight tested at RAAF Williamstown improved combat identification for Northrop Grumman’s Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) for the Wedgetail, Northrop Grumman said last month (Defense Daily, March 21).
“Rather than simulating performance via a testbed aircraft, an in-service E-7 was utilized to perform these flight tests, reflecting the technical maturity and mission readiness of these capabilities,” Northrop Grumman said. “Flying in a true mission environment with these advanced capabilities for the first time, MESA identified air threats and securely processed key intel faster than ever before.”