United States Air Force E-7A Wedgetail Ordered

The US Air Force selected the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail to replace the E-3 Sentry in the airborne early warning and control role and awarded Boeing a contract worth up to 1.2 billion dollars to develop an American variant. The award covered a first prototype, with production planned from 2025, an operational aircraft by 2027 and a final inventory of 26 airframes bought by 2032. The Wedgetail carries a Northrop Grumman electronically scanned radar on a Boeing 737 airframe and is already in service with Australia, Turkey, South Korea and the United Kingdom, which the Air Force cited as reducing development risk.