https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated July 26, 2022
Replacing the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System
(AWACS)
The U.S. Air Force recently expressed its interest to replace
the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)
fleet. Over the summer and fall of 2021, several senior Air
Force officials, including Air Force Secretary Frank
Kendall and Commander of Pacific Air Forces General
Kenneth Wilsbach, discussed plans to replace the E-3
AWACS. The officials stated that the Air Force needs to
replace its fleet of E-3 AWACS aircraft due to their age,
low mission capable rates, and the inability to procure parts
to maintain 40-year-old aircraft. The Air Force released a
request for information on February 8, 2022, seeking to
replace the AWACS beginning in FY2023. The FY2023
budget request seeks $227 million in research development,
test, and evaluation to begin E-3 AWACS recapitalization
while retiring 15 of 31 E-3 AWACS.
What Is the E-3 AWACS?
Since the 1970s, the United States has operated E-3
AWACS aircraft, with air movement tracking indicator
(AMTI) technologies that give commanders the ability to
see vast areas of airspace, including both friendly and
hostile aircraft, and manage the battle in that space. The E-3
is a modified Boeing 707 aircraft with a 30-foot radar dome
held above the aircraft’s fuselage (Figure 1). AWACS have
been sold to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), France, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia.
Figure 1. E-3 AWACS
Source: U.S. Department of Defense, at https://media.defense.gov/
2021/Sep/29/2002864360/-1/-1/0/200204-F-XO631-9049.JPG.
Over the years, the E-3 AWACS fleet received a number of
upgrades to its radars and AMTI module in order to
improve its command and control capabilities. From 1987
through 2001, the Air Force upgraded these systems
through the Block 30/35 program, which included increased
computer processing power, improved datalinks to
communicate with more aircraft, defensive electronic
countermeasures, and integration of Global Positioning
System (GPS) navigation devices. Starting in 2003, through
the Block 40/45 program, the Air Force upgraded the
systems again, to include improvements to electronic
support measures and datalink/spectrum management, new
battle management computer systems, and enhanced
satellite-based internet chat capabilities. These upgrades are
anticipated to reach full operational capability in May 2024.
Previous Replacement Initiatives
In 2003, the Department of Defense awarded Northrop
Grumman a contract to develop the E-10 Multi-sensor
Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A). The intent of this
program, as originally stated by the Air Force, was to
combine the E-3 AWACS with the E-8 Joint Surveillance
Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), equipped with
ground movement tracking indicator (GMTI) capabilities,
and the RC-135 Rivet Joint, a signals intelligence aircraft.
Due to technical challenges, however, the Air Force
decided to remove the GMTI requirement from the program
in 2006. The E-10 program was completely cancelled in
2010.
In 2017, the Air Force again proposed replacing the E-3
AWACS with a new program called the Advanced Battle
Management System (ABMS). Following release of the
2018 National Defense Strategy, the Air Force reevaluated
its requirements for ABMS. According to a 2020
Government Accountability Office report, the Air Force
“concluded that no single platform, such as an aircraft,
would be the right solution to providing command and
control capabilities across multiple domains.” Air Force
officials testified in April 2019 regarding a new vision for
ABMS, which aims to provide a family of command and
control systems in air, space, and cyberspace.
The U.S. Space Force has disclosed that it intends to
develop a low earth orbit satellite constellation to provide
GMTI and AMTI capabilities in the future. The Air Force
has also stated it intends to eventually transition airborne
battle management aircraft to a space-based capability. It
remains unclear when this space-based radar constellation
would be operational.
AWACS Replacement Program
The Air Force is obtaining the E-7 aircraft to, in part,
replace the capabilities of the AWACS. In April 2022, the
Air Force announced it would award a sole source contract
to Boeing for its E-7, also known as Wedgetail. The
Wedgetail utilizes a multirole electronically scanned area
radar that provides 360 degrees of surveillance coverage,
with a reported radar range in excess of 174 nautical miles
(200 miles, or 322 kilometers). The E-7 Wedgetail also is
capable of being refueled in-flight. Boeing currently
