Sadly, many much time, money and effort has been wasted on the E-3D fleet since Project EAGLE was established in the late 1990s. Furthermore, the lack of funds and mismanagement of its maintenance has exacerbated its obsolescence. A replacement is needed, if only because the crew is too large and costly, requiring too many specialists to get it working before an aircraft can be detected, identified and, in the case of friendly fighters, controlled. Furthermore, the aged computers and software, combined with a low revisit time of the hydraulically-driven radar, make it very difficult for the mission crew to react appropriately in a very dynamic situation.
As for its future, it would appear that an upgrade would now be both expensive and futile. Bandwidth and its inherent time delay makes a drone replacement very problematic, especially as there doesn’t appear to be a platform readily available. Consequently, although there are potentially other options, none seem as suitable as Boeing’s Wedgetail. Back in the late 90s and early 00s we hosted several RAAF officers sent to No 8 Sqn to glean operational AEW experience before returning to Oz and the new platform. They now should have a wealth of experience on type, from which we could learn.
Let’s hope the rumours of a Wedgetail purchase are correct, and we don’t repeat our past follies with Nimrod AEW and Nimrod MRA4. Our new carrier task group will need top cover if it is to survive the threats it is likely to face. Let’s hope the MOD gets it right, and the PT doesn’t bugger it up!