AEW&C aircraft development contract for U.S. Air Force won by Boeing
NewsMarch 01, 2023
SEATTLE, Washington. Boeing will begin developing two new U.S. variants of the E-7 Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft for the U.S. Air Force under a $1.2 billion undefinitized contract action, the company announced in a statement.
The E-7 is slated to replace aging E-3s, also built by Boeing. The Air Force announced its intent to award Boeing a sole-source contract to study the E-7 for Air Force requirements back in October 2021, and the Air Force announced the aircraft had been chosen to replace the E-3 a few months later.
"The E-7 tracks multiple airborne and maritime threats simultaneously with 360-degree coverage via the Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) sensor," Boeing says. "MESA provides the warfighter with critical domain awareness to detect and identify adversarial targets at long range and dynamically adjusts to emerging tactical situations."
The aircraft are converted from the 737-700 airframe, which is also used commercially.
