Despite recent indications that the Pentagon plans to walk back its procurement of new airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft from Boeing, the airframer’s defence chief remains optimistic about the prospects for as sale.
Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Paris air show in Le Bourget, Steve Parker, chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said he expects the US Air Force (USAF) will still field Boeing’s E-7A Wedgetail.
“I believe E-7 Wedgetail will be in the US Air Force inventory in large numbers,” Parker says.
That optimism might seem at odds with recent statements made by US defense secretary Pete Hegseth, who earlier this month told a congressional oversight committee the Pentagon is looking for other options to fill the Wedgetail’s mission.
“If we have systems and platforms that are not survivable in the modern battlefield, or they don’t give us an advantage in a future fight, we have to make the tough decisions right now,” Hegseth said. “The E-7 is an example of that.”
Specifically, the USAF under Hegseth is now looking at space-based options for performing one of the E-7’s primary tasks: identifying and tracking airborne threats.
Although unproven at scale, Trump Administration officials have indicated they think a space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability will be more survivable than a new fleet of AEW&C aircraft.
“We believe most of the ISR, or a great deal of the ISR in the future, will be space-based,” Hegseth says. “We’re willing to continue to review things like the E-7, but from our view, investments in existing systems that carry forward that capability, alongside even bigger investments in space-based ISR, gives us the kind of advantages we need on a future battlefield.”
Parker seems to disagree with the notion that space systems can replace the operationally proven capability of the E-7, saying, “I think there’s certainly a debate in terms of what can be done from space… versus what can be done at the airborne layer.”
He notes the Wedgetail offers air battle management support to fighters, bombers and tankers – critical to engaging enemy aircraft at greater distances and protecting friendly crews.
While the air force has been testing airborne threat management from space for several years, the battle management function seems likely to remain a task for AEW&C platforms.
“I think the system is going to prove itself out,” Parker says of the E-7. “It’s the most state-of-the-art AEW&C system in the world today. I’m very confident in what we’re doing for the US Air Force today.”
Despite Pentagon brass apparently having a dim view of the jet, Parker may have good reason for optimism.
Elected members of the US Congress control defence spending and often overule ideas coming from within the Pentagon, particularly those involving procurement.
It was Congress that pushed the air force to launch an E-7 programme to replace the USAF’s ageing fleet of Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft. There are already some indicators that lawmakers will not approve prematurely killing off the Wedgetail acquisition and the programme will continue to be funded.
“I think the support will be there,” Congressman Sam Graves told FlightGlobal at Le Bourget.
Graves predicted the E-7 and other at-risk aviation programmes, such as the US Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter, will ultimately be funded in the upcoming defence budget.
When it comes to the E-7, Boeing holds contracts to deliver two rapid-prototype aircraft to the USAF; the jets will be used to inform a decision on advancing into a full procurement programme.
As it is working on the US aircraft, which are set to be delivered by 2028, Boeing is advancing E-7 capability with the existing fleet. The company earlier this month announced the successful integration of two Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed jets into an Australian E-7’s onboard systems.
A virtual MQ-28 was also controlled by the E-7 during the integration testing. The MQ-28 is a joint project of Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force. During the E-7 event, the uncrewed jets were directed to fly ahead of the Wedgetail in protective formation.
In expressing confidence in a US E-7 fielding, Parker touts the benefits of interoperability with allies such as Australia already operating the Wedgetail.
Alongside Canberra, Turkey and South Korea have operational E-7 fleets, with the UK soon to receive its first example.
NATO headquarters has also committed to replace its internally operated fleet of E-3s with the newer Wedgetail.
The USAF is set to become the largest E-7 customer by a wide margin. If Washington were to cancel its acquisition programme, it is unclear what the future of the production line would be under Boeing.
