Once one of the most prized and carefully guarded assets in the Air Force fleet, the first of 13 E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) is now in a parking spot in the desert and will soon be followed by 12 more. The 45-year-old aircraft literally flew west from its base at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma to Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona on April 6. When the other 12 join it, the E-3 fleet will have been reduced to 30 and their days are numbered.
The E-3 will be replaced by the Boeing 737-based E-7 Wedgetail, and the first of those aircraft will be delivered in 2027. As always, the retirement is bittersweet. The world-changing role the aircraft played was celebrated as was the move to a modern state-of-the-art platform. Despite “Herculean” efforts by maintainers, the old 707s have slipped to below 65 percent dispatch rate. Only 25 Wedgetails will replace the fleet of more than 40 E-3s with no gaps in coverage, the Air Force says.
