UK orders Boeing E7...

[Easy Street]

Originally Posted by sidevalve

Sounds to me as though we're now salami-slicing the salami slices.
Good luck with selling that to Force Command.

Prosciutto-slicing? Implies high quality and a reassuring degree of expense...

[SLXOwft]

Fuselage Sections for First RAF E-7 Wedgetail Aircraft Arrive at Conversion Site in Birmingham

News of progess in the UK acquiring 'the world’s most effective AEW&C aircraft'.

Boeing UK issued a press statement on 2 November Boeing: Boeing UK - News Release

BIRMINGHAM, November 2, 2020 - Fuselage sections for the first two E-7 Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning (AEW) Mk1 aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) have arrived to the United Kingdom and are on site at STS Aviation Services in Birmingham.

Section 46 is the part of the fuselage where the aircraft’s Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar will be installed. Later this month the first Section 46 will begin preparation for inclusion into a 737 Next Generation airliner. The conversion work – turning commercial 737s into a modern airborne battlespace management fleet – will create more than 100 highly skilled jobs in Birmingham with STS Aviation Services and Boeing.

[Asturias56]

"News of progess in the UK acquiring 'the world’s most effective AEW&C aircraft'.

You should use the words "World Beating"

[BVRAAM]

Ok, so this thing is being assembled here, which is good news for UK industry.

So does this mean that we're putting our own avionics in it from scratch? Our very own AESA radar? Any open source information on this?

I did hear a rumour that this jet is going to be very similar in capability to the E-2D?

[Speedywheels]

Originally Posted by BVRAAM

Ok, so this thing is being assembled here, which is good news for UK industry.

So does this mean that we're putting our own avionics in it from scratch? Our very own AESA radar? Any open source information on this?

I did hear a rumour that this jet is going to be very similar in capability to the E-2D?

MESA is an N-G product, manufactured in Baltimore, MD.

[BVRAAM]

Originally Posted by Speedywheels

MESA is an N-G product, manufactured in Baltimore, MD.

Fair enough.

Will it have our own kit put into it?

[rattman]

Originally Posted by BVRAAM

Fair enough.

Will it have our own kit put into it?

Been told it will be pretty exact copy of the australian versions, this allows british crews to train on/with australian aircraft.

[tdracer]

Originally Posted by BVRAAM

Fair enough.

Will it have our own kit put into it?

Swapping out electronics on such an aircraft would hugely increase the costs. Just because new kit does the same task doesn't mean it works the same way, or even has the same inputs/outputs requirements.
A huge portion of the cost of these sorts of aircraft is in the integration of the electronics, and making sure not only due they play together but they don't interfere with each other. HIRF is a major problem - not so much external threats, but the frequencies coming from the other onboard equipment.
The beauty of using the same electronics as the Australian version is that the difficult integration stuff has already been done.

[rattman]

Originally Posted by tdracer

Swapping out electronics on such an aircraft would hugely increase the costs. Just because new kit does the same task doesn't mean it works the same way, or even has the same inputs/outputs requirements.
A huge portion of the cost of these sorts of aircraft is in the integration of the electronics, and making sure not only due they play together but they don't interfere with each other. HIRF is a major problem - not so much external threats, but the frequencies coming from the other onboard equipment.
The beauty of using the same electronics as the Australian version is that the difficult integration stuff has already been done.

I get the idea from a few people I know who are dealing with the RAAF wedgetails that the RAF dropped a list of changes on boeing and they they weren't all that happy and when the order size decreased they went nope take them as is

[SLXOwft]

It is also my understanding that the commonality with the RAAF Wedgetails is extremely high - wise heads want(ed) to ensure the UK was on the same upgrade pathway as the RAAF so the E-3 divergence fiasco isn't repeated.

However, the UK Defensive Aids System will be delivered by Leornado, with Thales sub-contracting for its Elix-IR Threat Warning System. The Leonardo system is, I understand, a newer version of the Electronic Warfare Suite Controller already fitted to the RAAF's Wedgetails. So I would think/hope that at some point that both AFs will be using the same version.


Asturias - Boeings words not mine hence the quote marks. I am in no position to make such an assessment.

[BVRAAM]

Appreciate the info chaps, thanks.

Very interesting!

[Martin the Martian]

I know it was mooted that the order would be reduced to three, but has anyone seen any actual confirmation of that?

[Valiantone]

More importantly what are we going to call ours.... ?

Wedgetail being a native bird of Australia and all that

[ZH875]

Originally Posted by Valiantone

More importantly what are we going to call ours.... ?

Wedgetail being a native bird of Australia and all that

Call it 'Cuckoo' as our government must be cuckoo for what it has let happen to the UK defence industry.

[BVRAAM]

Originally Posted by Valiantone

More importantly what are we going to call ours.... ?

Wedgetail being a native bird of Australia and all that

Something really, really lame, of course. Tweet some really lame suggestions to AOC 1 Gp on Twitter, and he can pick the lamest.

After all, 'Rivet Joint' is a pretty cool name but the RAF managed to make it seem lame by naming ours 'Airseeker.'

[Trumpet trousers]

Dodo would get my vote, if E-3D is anything to go by

[Buster Hyman]

Originally Posted by Valiantone

More importantly what are we going to call ours.... ?

E-7 Chav....

[SLXOwft]

I initially thought Bruce...

But then it was originally Australian, it sticks its nose into other peoples' business and tells everyone about it so either the Pilger AEW Mk 1 or the Greer AEW Mk 1,

[Regie Mental]

Wedgetail was selected as the name by CAS (ACM Hillier) some time ago.

[pr00ne]

Originally Posted by ZH875

Call it 'Cuckoo' as our government must be cuckoo for what it has let happen to the UK defence industry.

Yeah! It's a real shocker that it's only the second largest in the world and last year was equal exporter globally!