RAF to keep all their E-3Ds but...
they are to cut the aircrew.
A report from Flight International.
The UK Royal Air Force has decided against mothballing two of its seven
Boeing E-3D Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft (AWACS), and
will instead look to cut costs and hours flown by reducing the number of
aircrews assigned to the type.
According to John Parker, who as whole-life support team director for
Northrop Grumman is based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, along with the
aircraft, the air force has decided that mothballing aircraft was a more
expensive option.
Northrop in 2005 was awarded a 20-year, £529 million ($1.06 billion)
support and maintenance contract for the E-3D (one pictured above, during
last month's Waddington air show), including spares but excluding engines,
auxiliary power units and mission software. The availability-based deal is
designed to save the RAF £80 million over its course, says Parker, whose
team consists of 150 staff.
A mission system upgrade to transform the E-3D - which is based on Boeing's
commercial 707-320B - into a hub for UK network-centric warfare capability
is meanwhile under consideration by the Ministry of Defence. One proposal,
from Boeing Defence UK, is based on Boeing's Block 40/45 upgrade for the US
Air Force's 32-strong AWACS fleet.
If advanced, the project would represents the first major upgrade for the
E-3D's 1970s-vintage mainframe-based mission system. It would introduce new
operator consoles with flat-panel displays, and open-architecture computing
using commercial off-the-shelf equipment for lower through-life support
costs.
Meanwhile, NATO's military committee on 29 July discussed a request by the
alliance's senior commander in Afghanistan to deploy some of its E-3As to
manage air traffic movements within the country.