The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., has just completed an upgrade on the French Airborne Warning and Control System fleet, delivering the fourth and last E-3F AWACS this month. The Radar System Improvement Program package improves the E-3’s surveillance capability by increasing the sensitivity of the Doppler radar, allowing the aircraft to detect and track small targets. The RSIP upgrade also improves the radar’s electronic counter-countermeasures capability, and improves the radar’s antenna, receivers and transmitters. ESC’s Brian Schultz said that the center has been working on providing the same capability for some other international AWACS fleets.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.