The company has now started the assembly of the first Boeing 737 airframe which will later receive the mission equipment to become the Rapid Prototype for the U.S. Air Force’s new E-7A AEW&C aircraft.
The fuselage of the U.S. Air Force’s first E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft was delivered by Spirit AeroSystems to Boeing’s factory in Renton, Washington, Boeing Defense announced on Jan. 22, 2025. In a video showing the bare fuselage, first being transported on a flatbed rail carrier and then inside the factory, the company added that “production is now underway on the 737 line.”
The fuselage is seen on the factory floor, surrounded by the scaffolding used by workers to access the airframe. It will now be outfitted with the dorsal radar system, the internal workstations and consoles, beside the rest of the basic aerodynamic structure, wirings, cablings, electronics and avionics.
The development comes after Boeing announced on Aug. 9, 2024 having received a $2.56 billion contract from the U.S. Air Force for the production of two rapid prototype E-7A Wedgetail aircraft. The contract is a continuation of the E-7A Rapid Prototype program that the service started in 2023 to develop a replacement for the aging E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System).
The fuselage for the first @USAirForce E-7A Wedgetail Rapid Prototype has arrived at the 737 factory in @BoeingWA. pic.twitter.com/JkMkLRph9C
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) January 22, 2025
In 2022, the E-7 was selected to replace the aging E-3, leading to the establishment of the E-7A Program Management Office and the initial procurement of two aircraft through a rapid prototyping pathway. The E-7A will serve as the Department of Defense’s primary airborne sensor, offering Joint Force commanders enhanced detection, identification, and tracking capabilities.
E-7A Wedgetail
Built on the Boeing 737-700 NG airframe, Boeing has said in the past how the existing, in-use and certified aircraft design saves on development timelines while also saving costs and simplifying maintenance and logistics, since it relies on existing supply chains. Even the Boeing P-8A Poseidon MPA (Maritime Patrol Aircraft) is based on the 737’s airframe.
As The Aviationist had reported in context of Boeing’s contract for rapidly prototyping two E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, the development work was anticipated to be completed by Aug. 2024, according to the contract notice published in 2023. Production was slated to commence in fiscal 2025, with the first E-7A expected to be fielded by fiscal 2027. The USAF anticipates procuring 24 additional E-7As by fiscal 2032, with a total projected aircraft inventory of 26 aircraft.
The E-7 Wedgetail is either in use or chosen by the Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Republic of Korea Air Force, the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish Air Force) and NATO, beside the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft was initially developed for the RAAF, which became the first operator, under “Project Wedgetail.”
In NATO service, the Wedgetail will replace the fleet of 14 E-3 AWACS, with the first delivery scheduled for 2031. On Sep. 20, 2024, the first of three Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft of the U.K.’s Royal Air Force completed its first test flight following conversion at Birmingham International Airport.
Modern AEW&C aircraft and E-7A capabilities
The E-7 Wedgetail offers an advanced Airborne Moving Target Indication, Battle Management, Command and Control functions, and a dorsally-located Northrop Grumman Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar, which provides 360-degree coverage without the rotating antenna required by the E-3 Sentry. It offers both air-to-air and air-to-surface and has an integrated IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system.
While previous reports said the USAF initially considered acquiring a variant of the E-7A Wedgetail adopted by the Royal Air Force, its specific requirements needed more engineering work than anticipated, influencing the price and the negotiations. The aircraft will also have open systems architecture and agile software design to ease the quick incorporation of new or improved capabilities on operational aircraft at less costs.
Our #AusAirForce E-7A Wedgetail aircraft is set to return home following a successful six-month deployment on Operation Kudu, supporting multinational efforts in providing early warning for potential threats from Russia.
📖| https://t.co/H7xaL3aRvX
<1/2> pic.twitter.com/j5FTUwhgIA— Royal Australian Air Force (@AusAirForce) April 2, 2024
Modern AEW&C aircraft are expected to go beyond their basic function of merely detecting, tracking air targets and coordinating with friendly fighters.
As The Aviationist had reported previously with regards to Russian and Chinese AEW&C aircraft, today’s airborne radars are also required to coordinate with ground-based SAMs as a part of an integrated air defense network, offer basic ESM (Electronic Support Measures), conduct secondary ISR missions, trade tactical information over data links, receive inputs from satellites and possibly fuse all the streams of data into a single operational picture for theater-wide strategic surveillance.
