The primary of three RAF E-7 Wedgetail AEW&C plane has arrived at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland for check and analysis trials previous to coming into squadron service.
The plane was flown to the airbase by a combined crew of personnel from Boeing UK and the RAF, with the coming jet then greeted by a member of the RAF Lossiemouth Pipe Band to rejoice the occasion. Group Captain Sarah Brewin, the Station Commander at RAF Lossiemouth, was current alongside representatives from Boeing UK, the Wedgetail Challenge Workforce in addition to members from No 8 Squadron who will fly the plane in service.
Designed to supply lengthy vary air surveillance for the Royal Air Drive and different allied powers, the Wedgetail AEW1 represents a quantum leap of design over its predecessor the E-3 Sentry. This plane, serial WT001, will now full its check and analysis trials, which will probably be cut up between MOD Boscombe Down and RAF Lossiemouth, to make sure that the plane is secure and viable for squadron service.
As soon as full, No 8 Squadron will formally obtain the plane for operations, nevertheless, with the opposite plane within the squadron nonetheless years away, it’s unlikely the plane will probably be immediately deployable. Regardless, the Wedgetail will probably be a potent drive multiplier for the RAF, particularly when operated alongside the nine-strong fleet of Poseidon maritime patrol plane that can watch the seas while the Wedgetail watches the skies.
Welcome house to @RAFLossiemouth 1st of the E7 wedge tails WT001 arrived this afternoon #boeing #AviationNews #aviation #Army #avgeek #avgeeks pic.twitter.com/Y7gVNOsTKF
— stevo howells (@Stevo_SnakeDR) Could 21, 2026
Each the P-8 Poseidon and the E-7 Wedgetail are based mostly on the Boeing 737 NG airframe, with the principle variations being that the P-8 has an extended fuselage and a gap bomb bay for the deployment of Torpedos and sonobuoys from the air. Each plane having the identical base airframe will enable for a shared pool of spare components for each plane enabling the extra environment friendly upkeep of each fleets, as soon as the opposite E-7s enter service.
E-7 #Wedgetail lands in Lossiemouth!
WT001, the primary Wedgetail for the @royalairforce, has flown from @STSAviation to @RAFLossiemouth, the place it should proceed testing.
Welcome to Scotland. 🏴
Extra:
📷: © Crown Copyright pic.twitter.com/USWGKUJBNk
— Boeing UK (@BoeingUK) Could 21, 2026
On the plane’s arrival, Gp Capt Sarah Brewin said:
“We’re delighted to welcome the arrival of the primary Wedgetail plane to RAF Lossiemouth to proceed its Check and Analysis part. This marks a major step in delivering the Royal Air Drive’s subsequent era of airborne surveillance and management capabilities that can assist the defence of the UK for the years to come back. RAF Lossiemouth has been working laborious to get able to function these plane, and we’re wanting ahead very a lot to this subsequent thrilling chapter within the Station’s historical past when the plane enters RAF service.”
As well as, Boeing E-7 Vice President and Program Supervisor Stu Voboril said:
“The E-7 will present the UK with the world’s most superior, succesful and dependable Airborne Early Warning and Management platform, whereas supporting British trade by UK jobs and provide chain alternatives. Working carefully with the RAF and the MOD, we stay up for persevering with check and analysis because the plane strikes nearer to entry into service.”
Supply Delays
The RAF’s plan to equip itself with the E-7 Wedgetail has gone by many trials and tribulations because it was first introduced in 2019. The unique plan was for a fleet of 5 plane to function alongside E-7s operated by NATO and the US, nevertheless this has since fallen by as a result of diverging priorities for each entities.
The primary speedbump to this system emerged throughout the 2021 Defence Assessment, when the choice was made to chop the variety of plane from 5 to a few to avoid wasting on the preliminary price of £2.155bn. Two plane have been dropped however the British authorities had already agreed to pay for all 5 airborne radars, which means that two additional units can be found for spares and upkeep. The prices at this level for the three plane and 5 radar units was £1.89bn, with the plane predicted to start coming into into squadron service in 2023.
It was additionally determined that the E-3 Sentry AWACS can be retired early in 2021, as an alternative of its unique out of service date of 2035. These plane had been flying since 1991, and age and put on had pressured the discount of the fleet measurement down to a few by the point it was retired.
Airframe fatigue and a call made within the 2000s to not improve the airframes contributed to the choice to retire the plane early, because it was seen as a greater use of taxpayer cash to purchase new plane that would give out a better output than the upkeep heavy E-3s.
Since their retirement and scrapping, the UK has had a considerable functionality hole that has pressured reliance on allied AWACS operated by France, NATO and the US in addition to the Royal Navy’s Crowsnest geared up Merlin HMA2 helicopters. Nevertheless, neither resolution has been very best for the UK’s personal sovereign defence as a result of every nation having their very own AWACS commitments, and the Crowsnest system being brief ranged and unreliable.
Regardless of the E-7 being a seemingly off the shelf plane, in use with South Korea, Turkey and Australia, and with two plane being transformed from second hand airframes, there was appreciable delay in placing these plane into service. This is because of obsolescence in most of the plane’s parts which required new certifications for alternative components. The E-7 Wedgetail program started within the Nineteen Nineties with the plane produced for Australia, and since then know-how has rapidly moved on requiring substantial updates.
Inner difficulties at Boeing have additionally contributed to delays, stopping the plane from hitting its unique in service date by three years, with the primary airframe, WT001, solely unveiled in its RAF livery in October 2024. With this plane now lastly at RAF Lossiemouth, it’s hoped that the troubled program will start to show a brand new leaf and supply the RAF with the airborne detection system that it desperately wants.
Because it stands, the second airframe WT002 is presently being outfitted on the STS Aviation web site in Birmingham with the airframe not too long ago seen in January of this yr. The ultimate airframe WT003 is a new-build 737 which was solely accomplished in 2022. It’s unknown when this plane will begin its conversion work as the main target is probably going on WT002.
Correct cool sight at Birmingham Airport as we speak…
The No.2 RAF E-7A Wedgetail (WT002) doing full engine run up exams proper outdoors the STS hangar. This 14.7 yr previous ex-N449BJ 737-700BBJ (ex-Hongkong Jet/Longtail) arrived again in 2021 for conversion and is coming alongside properly.… pic.twitter.com/gVeXMRhZmm
— Fahad Naim (@Fahadnaimb) February 21, 2026
Worldwide Disagreement
The plan to solely purchase three plane was by no means adequate to cowl the UK’s strategic early warning wants and so within the 2025 Strategic Defence Assessment it was revealed that the federal government would have a look at shopping for extra. This may be accomplished both when UK defence funding was excessive sufficient to permit for follow-on plane, or it will be accomplished by an settlement with different NATO allies based mostly on the joint wants of the alliance.
Nevertheless, this plan could have been torpedoed as NATO has since cancelled its order for the E-7 Wedgetail, citing U.S. withdrawal from its personal E-7 acquisition in 2025.
It’s doubtless that as an alternative NATO will select a SAAB based mostly choice such because the Globaleye, as NATO members Sweden and France are presently within the strategy of equipping themselves with the platform, while different NATO operators already utilise the older Erieye AEW&C plane.
The US authorities got here out in opposition to the acquisition of a manned AEW&C platform, as an alternative favouring house based mostly methods that will doubtless revolutionise airborne detection and command and management of the USAF. Nevertheless, these capabilities are to this point of their infancy that the US congress has begun to allocate funding to the E-7 no matter what the US authorities initially deliberate. Given the lack of an E-3 Sentry after the Iran conflict this yr, the choice to obtain the E-7 is a smart one within the brief to mid time period.
Nevertheless, the dilly-dally and delay generated by this backwards and forwards on procurement, in addition to the UK’s difficulties getting the plane into service, has delay NATO from ordering the platform. Because it stands, all three AEW&C platforms are up within the air as to their longevity and functionability, with solely time telling whether or not both entity will have the ability to deploy an efficient fleet of plane.
This whole saga of plane procurement throughout the UK, U.S. and NATO is emblematic of an alliance that’s disorganised and frayed, with allies not consulted and stored updated on particular person plans and necessities. The clear and united path of joint plane procurement that underpinned the E-3 Sentry acquisition of the early Nineteen Nineties has degraded right here, with member states now unable to assist one another when it comes to spares and provide as they might in any other case have been in a position to.
With a bit of luck NATO will have the ability to overcome these obstacles in the end and all three AEW&C fleets will have the ability to function alongside one another for the betterment of the alliance and its safety.
