seven NATO E-3As deployed to Tinker and
flew around 4,300 hours during 360 sorties in
support of Operation Eagle Assist.
USAF Sentries operating over Afghanistan
as part of Enduring Freedom chalked up
15,713 hours in 1,259 sorties between
September 27 and May 23, 2003.
Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on
March 19, 2003, saw deployed Sentries fly
313 sorties totalling 3,115 hours by the time
major combat ops concluded on June 8.
E-3s returned to the CENTCOM AOR
under Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn
in March 2007, and in March 2013 the 968th
EAACS was activated under the 380th Air
Expeditionary Wing (AEW). It assumed
responsibility for the deployed assets and
continues to support the military over
Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
The squadron flew the 4,000th AWACS
combat sortie in April 2014 before flying its
first missions against the so-called Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria, under Operation
Inherent Resolve, two months later.
Sentries also deployed to support the
military over Libya as part of Operation
Odyssey Dawn/Unified Protector from March
to October 2011 – when USAF E-3s were
initially based at Naval Station Rota, Spain,
before transferring to Naval Support Activity
Souda Bay, adjacent to Chania airfield on
Crete.VERSATILE
Besides its wartime and homeland defence
duties, the E-3 fleet has supported the Joint
Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S)counter-drug mission since 1979. It continues
to conduct regular rotations to forward
operating stations in the Caribbean and
Central America. The missions are currently
conducted from bases in Aruba, Curaçao and
El Salvador.
The type also provides a peacetime
capability for emergency air traffic control,
area surveillance and humanitarian support.
This was first put to the test after Hurricane
Katrina struck the US Gulf Coast in 2005.
And in late August 2017, after Hurricanes
Harvey and Irma struck Texas, Louisiana,
the Caribbean and Florida, the 552nd ACW
provided vital communication links between
the various local, state and federal agencies.
E-3s acted as a critical co-ordination hub
between the Federal Aviation Administration’s
Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center, the
USAF’s Western Air Defense Sector (WADS),
an Air Support Operations Squadron and
more than 80 SAR aircraft.
Controllers aboard the AWACS relayed
information about hospital status, helicopter
landing zones and airfields for fixed-wing
aircraft, and gave co-ordinates and taskingsto rescue helicopters. They also provided
communication between helicopters and
ground-based elements to help co-ordinate
rescue efforts.
Since entering service, two USAF Sentries
have been written off. The first loss occurred
near Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, on September
22, 1995 when E-3B serial 77-0354 went
down, killing the entire crew of 24.
A second was badly damaged by a fire
following a nose gear collapse on landing at
Nellis AFB, Nevada, on August 28, 2009. The
aircraft, E-3C 83-0008, was subsequently
written off in 2012.
In 2003, the USAF began planning to
replace the E-3, the E-8C Joint Surveillance
Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) and
RC-135V/W Rivet Joint signals intelligence
(SIGINT) reconnaissance aircraft with a single
platform. Under the Command and Control
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
(C2ISR) programme, it was known as the
Multi-Sensor Command and Control Aircraft
(MC2A) for which the USAF had in fact
selected Northrop Grumman to develop the
new Boeing 767-400ER-based E-10A.
The plan was cancelled in 2007 after
being restructured several times. A single
767, set aside for C2ISR, was sold to Bahrain
in 2009.
The USAF now expects the E-3G to
remain in service until 2035 and is currently
considering plans for replacing the platform
with the Advanced Battle Management and
Surveillance system, which is expected to
deliver an evolutionary leap in capability over
the Sentry.http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 67Elmendorf-based Sentry
80-0139/AK. Jim HaseltineAbove left: A 961st Airborne Air Control
Squadron E-3 Sentry moves down the runway
during an exercise at Kadena Air Base,
Japan, on April 12, 2017. USAF/Senior Airman
John Linzmeier
Above right: An E-3 prepares to receive fuel
from a 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling
Squadron Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker during
a flight in support of Operation Inherent
Resolve on May 27, 2017. USAF/Staff Sgt
Michael Battles62-67_e3sDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 67 02/03/2018 17:54