First British E-7 Wedgetail AWACS Aircraft Completes Maiden Flight

Boeing said today it has completed the first flight of the UK's E-7 Wedgetail for the Royal Air Force (RAF).

A Boeing flight-test crew conducted functional checks during the first flight from Birmingham Airport.

Currently unpainted, the aircraft is one of three 737 NG aircraft on British soil undergoing modification at STS Aviation Services in Birmingham.

The E-7 detects and identifies adversarial targets at long range and tracks multiple airborne and maritime threats simultaneously with 360-degree coverage via the Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) sensor. It provides the warfighter with critical multi-domain awareness and command-and-control decision advantage.

The future UK E-7 fleet will operate from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, where Boeing's local suppliers and contractors are nearing completion of the infrastructure facilities to support its introduction into service.

The RAF participates in a tri-lateral agreement with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and U.S. Air Force (USAF) toward cooperative Wedgetail interoperability, capability development, evaluation and testing, sustainment, operations, training, and safety.

The RAAF, the Republic of Korea Air Force, and the Turkish Air Force currently operate the E-7. Boeing is also building two rapid prototype E-7 aircraft for U.S.A.F. and in 2023, NATO announced the selection of the E-7 for its AEW&C mission.

Later this autumn, following a series of flight tests and further evaluation, the aircraft will depart to a paint facility to receive its RAF livery.