RAF to buy 5 Boeing E-7 Wedgetail AWACS
Discussion
Just a link and run mainly - announced today the RAF will buy 5 E-& Wedgetail AWACS from Boeing.
https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/wedgetail-to-...
As ex-E-3D it'll be a shame to see them stood down but the capabilities of the wedgetail are just fantastic!
https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/wedgetail-to-...
As ex-E-3D it'll be a shame to see them stood down but the capabilities of the wedgetail are just fantastic!
ecsrobin said:
Looks to be much better than going down the Saab route which was untested on the proposed A330 airframe I believe.
Good to see MoD buying off the shelf proven bits of kit.
Not exactly been easy for the MoD to even do that when challenges get raised by bidders saying their offering might be better - despite that their aircraft only exists on paper...Good to see MoD buying off the shelf proven bits of kit.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/07/...
There's some very odd focus going in in that mock-up pic!
I wonder how it does radar scanning of areas to the front and rear? Unless the transverse phased array is within the wings somewhere, which is vaguely possible I suppose. But the composite wings do have conductive wire grids on to deal with lightning strikes, so maybe not. I guess it may well just stand off the target area by a long long way and look sideways at the area of interest, although it does say it has complete 360 degree coverage every 10 seconds. I guess it doesn't guarantee the same resolution all around.
(This is hypothetical, anyone even vaguely in a position to know probably isn't in a position to say)
£1.5bn doesn't seem too bad in the scheme of things, for something like this. Interesting that Turkey has one. You'd think a place that's looking increasingly close to Russia wouldn't be top of the US cutting edge export list. CFM56 engine seems a bit of a snub to RR though.
I wonder how it does radar scanning of areas to the front and rear? Unless the transverse phased array is within the wings somewhere, which is vaguely possible I suppose. But the composite wings do have conductive wire grids on to deal with lightning strikes, so maybe not. I guess it may well just stand off the target area by a long long way and look sideways at the area of interest, although it does say it has complete 360 degree coverage every 10 seconds. I guess it doesn't guarantee the same resolution all around.
(This is hypothetical, anyone even vaguely in a position to know probably isn't in a position to say)
£1.5bn doesn't seem too bad in the scheme of things, for something like this. Interesting that Turkey has one. You'd think a place that's looking increasingly close to Russia wouldn't be top of the US cutting edge export list. CFM56 engine seems a bit of a snub to RR though.
Zad said:
. CFM56 engine seems a bit of a snub to RR though.
No 737 variant (of which thousands have been built) have ever been fitted with Rolls Royce engines. Indeed, does Rolls Royce have an engine that would be suitable? Look at the issues Boeing is currently having on the 737 Max, which have been fundamentally caused by the need to fit a larger derivative of the CFM56 to the 737 airframe.I think I read elsewhere that we are buying 7.
11 AWACS airframes replaced by 7 (or 5) E7 Wedgetails, and the E7 is meant to have greater utility in the maritime surface surveillance role, too. Hmmm, me thinks they are going to be very busy given that the UK has bought only a handful of P8s.
11 AWACS airframes replaced by 7 (or 5) E7 Wedgetails, and the E7 is meant to have greater utility in the maritime surface surveillance role, too. Hmmm, me thinks they are going to be very busy given that the UK has bought only a handful of P8s.
andy97 said:
I think I read elsewhere that we are buying 7.
11 AWACS airframes replaced by 7 (or 5) E7 Wedgetails, and the E7 is meant to have greater utility in the maritime surface surveillance role, too. Hmmm, me thinks they are going to be very busy given that the UK has bought only a handful of P8s.
We may have had 11 awacs but I think the serviceability of the ageing fleet probably means not many sorties are flown. 11 AWACS airframes replaced by 7 (or 5) E7 Wedgetails, and the E7 is meant to have greater utility in the maritime surface surveillance role, too. Hmmm, me thinks they are going to be very busy given that the UK has bought only a handful of P8s.
We never had 11 E-3D AWACS in service. We did have 7 E-3D's and 12 Shackletons but they never served together as the Shacks up in Lossie went in June 1991 just as the E3-D's at Waddo came online in July 1991.
Of the 7 E-3D's two are long term dead with various issues, leaving only 5 for day to day use so, with the announcement of 5 newer E-7's those two long term dead E-3D's will get scrapped to produce more spares for the remaining 5 aircraft to keep them flying longer, but the £2 Billion upgrade the E-3D's would have required shortly will probably be shelved and the money poured into the E-7 instead.
Of the 7 E-3D's two are long term dead with various issues, leaving only 5 for day to day use so, with the announcement of 5 newer E-7's those two long term dead E-3D's will get scrapped to produce more spares for the remaining 5 aircraft to keep them flying longer, but the £2 Billion upgrade the E-3D's would have required shortly will probably be shelved and the money poured into the E-7 instead.
Edited by IanH755 on Sunday 24th March 09:52
IanH755 said:
We never had 11 E-3D AWACS in service. We did have 7 E-3D's and 12 Shackletons but they never served together as the Shacks up in Lossie went in June 1991 just as the E3-D's at Waddo came online in July 1991.
Of the 7 E-3D's two are long term dead with various issues, leaving only 5 for day to day use so, with the announcement of 5 newer E-7's those two long term dead E-3D's will get scrapped to produce more spares for the remaining 5 aircraft to keep them flying longer, but the £2 Billion upgrade the E-3D's would have required shortly will probably be shelved and the money poured into the E-7 instead.
I'm constantly surprised at how time flies (if you'll pardon the pun!), I used to work on the E3's at Marshalls, and still think of them as a new aircraft, much like the c-130J, thats been in RAF service getting on for 20 years, and I still think of them as new! Of the 7 E-3D's two are long term dead with various issues, leaving only 5 for day to day use so, with the announcement of 5 newer E-7's those two long term dead E-3D's will get scrapped to produce more spares for the remaining 5 aircraft to keep them flying longer, but the £2 Billion upgrade the E-3D's would have required shortly will probably be shelved and the money poured into the E-7 instead.
Edited by IanH755 on Sunday 24th March 09:52
IanH755 said:
We never had 11 E-3D AWACS in service. We did have 7 E-3D's and 12 Shackletons but they never served together as the Shacks up in Lossie went in June 1991 just as the E3-D's at Waddo came online in July 1991.
Of the 7 E-3D's two are long term dead with various issues, leaving only 5 for day to day use so, with the announcement of 5 newer E-7's those two long term dead E-3D's will get scrapped to produce more spares for the remaining 5 aircraft to keep them flying longer, but the £2 Billion upgrade the E-3D's would have required shortly will probably be shelved and the money poured into the E-7 instead.
Thanks, not sure where i got that number from, sorry for my mistake.Of the 7 E-3D's two are long term dead with various issues, leaving only 5 for day to day use so, with the announcement of 5 newer E-7's those two long term dead E-3D's will get scrapped to produce more spares for the remaining 5 aircraft to keep them flying longer, but the £2 Billion upgrade the E-3D's would have required shortly will probably be shelved and the money poured into the E-7 instead.
Edited by IanH755 on Sunday 24th March 09:52
eccles said:
Nice bit of work for a British firm converting the aircraft as well at Marshalls in Cambridge.
Cool; I shall look forward to seeing them flying in and out. Although in summer I occasionally curse the drone of small private planes from Cambridge Airport, it is offset by something unusual occasionally - B17, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, various aerobatic teams, 747...Eric Mc said:
Zad said:
. CFM56 engine seems a bit of a snub to RR though.
No 737 variant (of which thousands have been built) have ever been fitted with Rolls Royce engines. Indeed, does Rolls Royce have an engine that would be suitable? Look at the issues Boeing is currently having on the 737 Max, which have been fundamentally caused by the need to fit a larger derivative of the CFM56 to the 737 airframe.
Edited by hidetheelephants on Sunday 24th March 23:51
hidetheelephants said:
Shades of MRA4, attempting to squeeze more life out of an airframe that's already been wrung out twice; it's mildly amusing that having decided not to superannuate a dinosaur airliner the MOD bought someone else's superannuated dinosaur airliner instead and are now augmenting a fleet of knackered superannuated airliners with some different superannuated airliners. No appetite in europe to reanimate all the A340s cluttering up the boneyards of Arizona and strap a fancy radar to them?
It would be funny if it wasn't actually true............!
eccles said:
IanH755 said:
We never had 11 E-3D AWACS in service. We did have 7 E-3D's and 12 Shackletons but they never served together as the Shacks up in Lossie went in June 1991 just as the E3-D's at Waddo came online in July 1991.
Of the 7 E-3D's two are long term dead with various issues, leaving only 5 for day to day use so, with the announcement of 5 newer E-7's those two long term dead E-3D's will get scrapped to produce more spares for the remaining 5 aircraft to keep them flying longer, but the £2 Billion upgrade the E-3D's would have required shortly will probably be shelved and the money poured into the E-7 instead.
I'm constantly surprised at how time flies (if you'll pardon the pun!), I used to work on the E3's at Marshalls, and still think of them as a new aircraft, much like the c-130J, thats been in RAF service getting on for 20 years, and I still think of them as new! Of the 7 E-3D's two are long term dead with various issues, leaving only 5 for day to day use so, with the announcement of 5 newer E-7's those two long term dead E-3D's will get scrapped to produce more spares for the remaining 5 aircraft to keep them flying longer, but the £2 Billion upgrade the E-3D's would have required shortly will probably be shelved and the money poured into the E-7 instead.
Edited by IanH755 on Sunday 24th March 09:52
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