Second RAF Boeing E-7 Wedgetail breaks cover in green primer following first flight
The Royal Air Force’s second Boeing E-7 Wedgetail has completed its first flight following conversion, with new images revealing the airborne surveillance aircraft in its unfinished green primer.
Boeing confirmed on 16 July that the aircraft, known as WT002, flew from Birmingham Airport on 15 July. It is the second of three Boeing 737 airframes being converted into E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft for the RAF.
The milestone comes as the UK awaits the formal handover of its first Wedgetail, which is undergoing final ground and flight testing at RAF Lossiemouth.
Boeing Defence UK said this week that progress on the lead aircraft is continuing well, although it has not provided a date for delivery. The RAF still expects the E-7 to enter service during 2026.
Meet the RAF’s second E-7 Wedgetail
WT002 completed what Boeing described as its first functional check flight since undergoing conversion by STS Aviation Services at Birmingham Airport.
Although the aircraft’s underlying Boeing 737-700 airframe has flown previously, the 15 July sortie was its first since being substantially modified into an E-7.
The conversion includes the installation of the aircraft’s distinctive Northrop Grumman Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array radar above the fuselage, alongside mission systems, operator workstations and military communications equipment.
Functional check flights are used to evaluate the aircraft’s basic flying controls, engines and avionics following major modification work. The RAF’s first Wedgetail completed the equivalent milestone in September 2024 before entering a wider test and evaluation programme.
Images released by the RAF show WT002 in metallic green primer rather than its final service colours. The temporary coating protects the aircraft’s aluminium structure from corrosion while providing a base for its finished paint scheme.
WT002 is expected to undergo further checks before being flown for painting, where it will receive RAF markings and the colours of VIII Squadron. It will then continue through the test and evaluation process ahead of delivery.
The third and final UK Wedgetail remains in conversion at Birmingham.
RAF awaits delivery of its first E-7
The RAF’s first aircraft, WT001, arrived at RAF Lossiemouth in full service livery on 21 May after completing earlier testing at Boscombe Down.
Its remaining test and evaluation work is being carried out at the Scottish base before Boeing formally hands it over to the RAF. It will then be operated by VIII Squadron alongside the UK’s nine P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
During a Boeing Defence UK media briefing earlier in July, fixed-wing director Ben Kelsey said the company had deployed additional engineers and test personnel to Lossiemouth to help complete the programme.
“The first E-7 was transited up to Lossiemouth back in May and is now undergoing the final stages of ground and flight testing,” Kelsey said.
“We’ve got some work ahead of us with the RAF as we go through that final testing stage, but we’ve got a dedicated, focused team up there now who certainly see the need to get that capability completed and handed over to the RAF and in use.”
Boeing declined to provide a firm handover date, but the UK government continues to list 2026 as the planned year for the aircraft to enter RAF service.
The company has also secured a £127.5 million contract to sustain the three-aircraft fleet. The agreement will support approximately 180 jobs in Scotland and is expected to create between 60 and 80 additional roles and four apprenticeships.
The Wedgetail fleet will restore the UK’s sovereign airborne early warning and control capability, which has been absent since the RAF retired its E-3D Sentry aircraft in 2021.
