Trilateral flight testing certifies RAAF E-7A Wedgetail to refuel from USAF KC-46 tanker
May 7, 2025
These tests marked the KC-46A tanker’s first aerial refuelling receiver certification for a unique foreign aircraft type, and will provide a data baseline for certifying other unique foreign aircraft, enhancing future testing efficiency. For the RAAF, the ability of the E-7A to receive fuel from the KC-46 will provide options beyond the traditional KC-135 Stratotanker and RAAF KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport.
The trilateral test also allowed the United Kingdom and United States Air Force to gain early test experience and gather critical test data ahead of the planned fielding of their own E-7 variants, and promised to streamline future USAF and RAF E-7 Wedgetail certification efforts.
Squadron Leader Owen Hamilton, of the RAAF’s Aircraft Research and Development Unit, said that: “The RAAF is the original operator of the E-7A aircraft. We have already tested and overcome many early challenges typical of a new platform. This unique knowledge allows us to guide our allies in the UK and US to field their own E-7A Wedgetail capability faster.”
Squadron Leader Angus Lilly, an RAF test pilot, participated in the testing, since the RAF will soon operate a variant of the E-7 Wedgetail. This hands-on experience provided critical early exposure to the type before the RAF begins its own flight test programme. Lilly noted that: “This test event reflects the joint collaboration and interoperability between our three nations. We will soon begin flight testing our own E-7A aircraft, and this early collaboration will help us field our capability more efficiently.”
Bringing three nations together for testing presented challenges, including understanding the required processes for secure data sharing between the KC-46 and E-7A, two platforms that had never interfaced. Boeing, the mission partner and KC-46 program office, assisted the 418th FLTS with breaking down these barriers.
Maj. Matthew Daughtery, a global reach test pilot from the 418th FLTS said that: “Sharing data and understanding how to dissect and utilize the information is just as important as the actual test certification. There are no benchmarks or precedents for aligning these systems. The USAF and RAAF use different rules and nomenclatures. A key part of developmental testing is to find a path to success. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”
The official Edwards AFB press release noted that the tests were “part of a broader vision of trilateral collaboration that identifies enhanced operational output through mutual support, shared resources, and commonality, ultimately achieving greater operational reliability through efficiencies of scale.”
The unique partnership forged during this testing is expected to pay dividends as the USAF and RAF field their own E-7 Wedgetails, and will help forge a path to full interoperability. This, it has been claimed, will “allow joint forces to focus on the fight, not on aircraft ownership.”
The recent robust testing over the Mojave Desert signals a new era in networked airborne early warning and control capability. Lessons learned are already informing future test planning as the RAF and USAF prepare to transition to their own E-7 Wedgetail operations. Michael Baker, E-7A chief of developmental test for the USAF said that: “The US is demonstrating the impact of our trilateral engagement through this testing, with the ultimate goal of full interoperability for global defense… This also lays a path for future co-operation to enhance the E-7A for the future.
