This weekend, during a press conference, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Secretary Frank Kendall stated to local media that an agreement with Boeing to advance the construction of the first rapid prototype E-7 Wedgetail is close to being finalized. The goal is to resolve disputes between the USAF and the company that arose from increased unit costs due to special requirements imposed by the USAF on the aircraft’s design.
It is worth noting that the E-7 Wedgetail was chosen by the U.S. Air Force to replace the aging AWACS E-3 Sentry aircraft. The program began early last year with a contract of over $1.2 billion to Boeing for a total of 26 aircraft by 2032. These capabilities, as previously reported, will be complemented by the development of a satellite network to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
Regarding this, Secretary Kendall stated last month: “Having some redundancy and getting to a point where we have more confidence in the space layer will take some time… There are some good technical reasons to have a mix of capabilities here… I think we are going to need [the E-7]. I would like to keep it funded.”
According to the specialized media Defense News, the issues began when the USAF sought to integrate changes in the satellite communication systems, GPS navigation systems, and cybersecurity of the E-7 Wedgetail program. What, according to Andrew Hunter, head of Air Force acquisitions, was not supposed to deviate much from the original design acquired by countries like the United Kingdom, led to months of engineering delays and negotiations over the new aircraft prices. In this regard, Kendall declared: “There are some reasons for the price to go up, but the degree to which it was going to go up originally was unacceptable.”
The news is that these disputes are nearly resolved, as negotiations between Boeing and the USAF delegation led by Shay Assad (former director of defense pricing at the Pentagon) have reached a “reasonable price,” and it is estimated that by next month, the issue will be behind them, according to recent statements by the USAF Secretary at the Royal International Air Tattoo.
This is significant given the important markets the program could address, as has been the case with the United Kingdom, Australia (the country that originally requested the design), and other potential NATO users. As Hunter put it: “There are some critical design updates [on] the overall mission systems architecture that will lay the foundation for future capability. That’s a big market for industry.”
*Images used for illustrative purposes.
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