AWACS REPLACEMENT CONTRACT LIKELY IN 2023

摘要

A contract to buy a replacement for the aging E-3G Sentry - also known as the AWACS, or Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft - could come in fiscal 2023. According to an Air Force request for information, the service wants to know how a potential contractor would deliver at least two prototype aircraft to replace the AWACS, including ground support and training systems, within five years of an expected 2023 award. The E-3 AWACS, which dates back to the 1970s, is a heavily modified Boeing 707 with an unmistakable 30-foot rotating radar dome above its fuselage. It provides command and control and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to manage the battlefield, and its radar has a range of more than 250 miles. The Air Force has flown the AWACS in numerous conflicts in recent decades, including the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has used it in support of humanitarian relief operations.