aviation - the past, present and future of flight

B

etween March 1977 and May 1992,

Boeing delivered 68 E-3 Sentry

Airborne Warning and Control

System (AWACS) aircraft to the US

Air Force, NATO, the Royal Saudi Air Force,

the French Air Force and the RAF.

Considered a low-density/high-demand

(LD/HD) asset, the Sentry serves as an

all-weather airborne early warning, air

surveillance, air battle management, and

command and control platform.

It provides command and control of

offensive and defensive counter-air and -sea

operations as well as strike, close-air support,

suppression of enemy air defences and

overwatch missions – and can also manage

air-refuelling  ights, combat search and

rescue (CSAR) and special ops missions.

Its long-range surveillance multi-mode

radar can locate and track targets  ying at

medium and low altitudes at ranges greater

than 325 miles (520km) and 250 miles

(400km) respectively.

At an altitude of 30,000ft, the system

is capable of longer-range detection than

conventional ground-based platforms that

are inherently constrained by line-of-sight

limitations.

Conceptual development of the AWACS

began in response to a 1963 joint Speci c

Operational Requirement (SOR) undertaken

by Tactical Air Command and Air Defense

Command for a beyond-the-horizon system

capable of tracking low- ying targets against

ground clutter. It was planned to be a more

capable replacement for the Lockheed

EC-121D Warning Star, which had entered

service in 1953.

A request for proposals (RFP) was

released in June 1965 and Lockheed, Boeing

and Douglas Aircraft, which were already

developing concepts that could meet the

USAF E-3 SENTRY

EYE IN THE SKY

Tom Kaminski profi les the heart of the

USAF’s airpower – Boeing’s E-3 Sentry.

62 Aviation News incorporating Jets April 2018

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