The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.
E-7A Wedgetail
With more than a third of the Air Force's entire E-3 AWACS fleet deployed to support the war against Iran, the ability to perform airborne battle management, or ABM, remains essential to the broader joint force, a new think tank report argues.
Congress is getting closer to saving the E-7 Wedgetail from the Pentagon chopping block, with the House of Representatives preparing to pass the presumptive final version of the National Defense Authorization bill this week.
“The Trump administration and the Department of War deserve commendation for revising their fiscal 2026 budget submission, which sought to cancel the E-7 airborne early warning and control aircraft. By reversing that decision, the administration has now addressed a looming capability gap and deepened NATO ...
Boeing will build a prototype E-7A Wedgetail air battle management aircraft for the U.S. Air Force under a $1.2 billion contract awarded Feb. 28, the service announced. Production is set begin in 2025 and the first E-7A will be operational by 2027.