Boeing 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, marking a significant milestone in the programme’s test and evaluation phase.
Currently unpainted, the aircraft is one of three 737 NG aircraft on British soil undergoing modification by a highly skilled team of over 100 people at STS Aviation Services in Birmingham.
“This safe and systematic Functional Check Flight is an important step for Boeing and the RAF as part of our rigorous and extensive testing and evaluation. Our team is committed to ensuring the E-7 delivers the safety, quality, and capabilities we’ve promised to our customer as we prepare for delivery of the UK’s first E-7 Wedgetail to the RAF.”
Stu Voboril, Boeing vice president and E-7 program manager
“Achieving the first flight of Wedgetail is a significant milestone, representing an outstanding effort from the RAF programme team, DE&S, Boeing and STS Aviation. We will now build on this success and look forward to continuing the Test & Evaluation phase as part of our preparations for the aircraft to enter into service.”
Group Captain Richard Osselton, RAF Programme Director for Wedgetail
The combat-proven 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.
“This first flight marks a significant milestone for the programme and for our team who have worked tirelessly with our partners to progress what is a hugely complex endeavour. We are moving forward and will be delivering this critical capability to the RAF.”
Richard Murray, DE&S Director Air Support
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.
“We’re proud of the robust E-7 modification line we’ve stood up in the UK to deliver the RAF’s future Airborne Early Warning & Control fleet. We are committed to delivering this crucial capability to support the UK’s national security and contribute toward regional stability.”
Maria Laine, president of Boeing UK, Ireland and the Nordics
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 USAF and in 2023, NATO announced the selection of the E-7 for its AEW&C mission. The growing global E-7 fleet provides mission systems interoperability, mission readiness and lifecycle cost advantages, as well as a common technical growth path to stay ahead of global threats.
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.
