The Thin End of the E-7 Wedge(tail)

Five years after the UK retired its last airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, the RAF’s replacement is still working through “the final stages of ground and flight testing,” with Boeing Defence UK (BDUK) acknowledging that there is “obviously some work ahead” before the first E-7 Wedgetail AEW Mk1 enters service.

The modified Boeing 737 has flown just 10 test sorties since completing its missionization conversion at Birmingham’s STS Aviation Services in 2024, following a protracted test and evaluation process that included testing at RAF Boscombe Down. It remains unclear whether the aircraft’s Northrop Grumman radar—the core mission sensor the aircraft must demonstrate—has been tested in flight.

On July 15, Boeing Defence UK performed the first functional flight of the UK’s second Wedgetail at Birmingham Airport, where STS Aviation Services continues to work on the third airframe. On the same day, the National Armaments Director Group also awarded BDUK a sustainment contract worth $171.4 million (£127.5 million) for the future E-7 fleet.

The program had previously targeted initial operational capability before the end of this year. Speaking to reporters ahead of the Farnborough Airshow, Ben Kelsey, director of BDUK’s fixed-wing business, said that flight trials would continue “over the coming months and then get into service in due course.”

Citing similarities between the nine P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (itself a 737NG derivative) also based at Lossiemouth, BDUK managing director Thom Breckenridge said the company has added “a good number of additional engineers and test personnel” to the core team “to make sure we progress through that final round of flight testing as quickly as we can.”

Platform commonality is also expected to support what Kelsey called a “pretty mature solution” for sustaining the E-7 fleet. Around 200 team members and more than 100 UK suppliers have supported the UK’s P-8 program for the last five years.