RAF AEW&C - E-7A Wedgetail

Isn't the USAF going to be replacing its' E-3 Sentries in the near future with the E-7 Wedgetail?
 
NMaude said:
Isn't the USAF going to be replacing its' E-3 Sentries in the near future with the E-7 Wedgetail?
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Hence the line in the linked article in the first post:
The USAF E-7 builds on that baseline by upgrading to OMS standards, upgrades to networks and other classified enhancements.
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Here is the thread about the USAF E-7... note that the announcement is in post #116 at the bottom of the 3rd page. https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/us-awacs-recapitalization-for-the-21st-century.37901/
 
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bring_it_on said:
It is the configuration that the USAF is getting and NATO beyond that as well.
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Cool - the UK MOD has a habit of creating dead-ends that it then needs to unwind later - eg the Apaches that were gold-plated, only for that gold-plating having to be removed at great cost so that they could be upgraded.
 
That gold plating actually worked well though. The 'upgrades' in the new birds on the other hand may have not been worth the overall loss of capabilities, let alone the cost (the U.S. has gone down quite a few dead ends itself in recent times, in the name of 'Transformation', 'Netcentric warfare' and such). Not to mention the throwing aside of British needs in the process, both operational and industrial.
 
The requirement for introducing commonality with P-8 made a ton of sense since the P-8 is a larger program, and actually in production whereas the E-7 had to be brought back into production following the RAF order. Going forward, maintaining commonality will save cost not to mention improve capability given its a good upgrade.
 
When it comes to Aussie Wedgetails I wonder if they are still pursuing the integration of CEC to the Wedgetail. First time I remember of it beinf officially touted was in 2018 :


I'd expect that this would mean something like an integration of USG-3 variant to the Wedgetail alongside C-band antennas for full integration, though that sounds like a pretty daunting (and costly) task for existing airframes, even if the B737 itself has still a lot of compartments to spare.
 

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