Regarding the date of the E-3 (AWACS) design - the biggest part of the design was done about 1970. Boeing beat McD-D (DC-8 based machine) in part because of Boeing's plan to use eight TF34 engines in B-52-style nacelles. This increased the loiter time substantially.
Of course, after winning the AWACS contract, Boeing dropped the TF34 idea and reverted to JT3D donks. Lower cost, you know.
