USAF Boeing E-7 Wedgetail saved? Senate blocks DoD plan to scrap radar jet for space-based alternatives
August 1, 2025
The Senate Appropriations Committee has released its fiscal year 2026 Defense Appropriations Bill, which includes $647 million to continue development of the E-7 Wedgetail early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. The move blocks a Pentagon plan to cancel the radar jet in favour of space-based surveillance.
Senate draft bill restores funding for E-7 Wedgetail
The Senate Committee has approved and released its FY 2026 Defense Appropriations Bill that includes $647 million in funding for the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft. The text states it includes an “increase of $647 million to continue the E-7 Wedgetail early warning and control and battle management mission aircraft.”
While the aircraft has been in service in Australia since 2012, the Department of Defense stated in June that the radar plane is suffering from “significant delays with cost increases from $588 million to $724 million per aircraft and survivability concerns in a contested environment.”
The DoD revealed plans to cancel the E-7 Wedgetail, purchase naval E-2 Hawkeyes as an interim measure, and focus on space-based assets.
In all, the draft bill includes $59.8 billion for Air Force procurement and $49.3 billion in R&D funding. Other notable increases in funding include $1.5 billion for eight C-130J Super Hercules, $800 million to “continue a high priority classified program,” $619 million for two EA-37B Compass Call aircraft, and $2.6 billion for the Sentinel ICBM program.
An existing solution for the USAF
Despite Pentagon hesitation, many in Congress see the Wedgetail as a viable stopgap solution.
The Wedgetail is to partially replace the ageing E-3 Sentry radar plane, which is readily identified by its larger mounted rotating antenna. The E-7 was originally developed by Boeing for the Royal Australian Air Force and has since been selected by other US allies. The aircraft is also in service, or has been ordered by Turkey, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and NATO.
The Air Force selected the E-7 as a ready-made replacement for its ageing AWACS aircraft. Boeing has been contracted to rapidly provide representative prototypes adapted to USAF requirements, with plans to bring the aircraft into initial service in 2027.
E-7 Wedgetail is partially replacing the E-3 Sentry
In 2015, the Air Force had 36 E-3 Sentries in service, and now it has around 22. The Air Force had plans to procure 26 Wedgetails to partially replace the Sentries, with some of the E-3 roles being taken over by space-based assets.
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has already retired its fleet of E-3 Sentries and is now preparing to receive the first of five planned E-7 Wedgetails.
The Pentagon feels that AEW&C aircraft will be too vulnerable in future wars. Indeed, the Russian Air Force has seen two of its seven to eight upgraded Beriev A50U AEW&C shot down while they were thought to be operating at a safe distance from the Ukrainian frontline.
The debate in Washington is not so much whether the Wedgetails are capable as whether they will be too vulnerable. The DoD wants to move the roles into space, but critics fear that those capabilities are not yet sufficiently mature to completely replace conventional radar planes.
Whether the Wedgetail ultimately flies in US colours now hinges on whether lawmakers’ concerns about space-based vulnerability outweigh Pentagon ambitions for orbital dominance.
