B737 - E-737 AEW&C
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E-737 AEW&C (AWACS)
FF 21 May 2004
14 Orders (Australia 6, Turkey 4, South Korea 4)
The 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control planes are designed for countries that can't afford or don't need the capability of the much bigger 767 or 707 AWACS. The base plane is essentially a Boeing Business Jet, which has the 737-700 fuselage with the stronger 737-800 wing to support its extra weight and the BBJ aux fuel tanks.
The AEW&C will use a phased-array, Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar "Top Hat" sensor developed by Northrop Grumman and mounted in a rectangular faring over the rear fuselage. The antenna alone weighs 2950kg and is 10.7m long. However it provides a practical solution for fore and aft coverage while maintaining a low drag profile and allows the system to be installed on the mid-size 737 platform without significant impact on aircraft performance. A 737 airborne early warning plane costs from $150 million to $190 million, compared with about $400 million for the 767 AWACS. The AEW&C carries a mission crew of between 6 and 10 in the forward cabin.
Additional modifications include a new upper lobe section 46 to support the antenna; a new section 41 with a cut-out for an air-to-air refuelling receptacle, two ventral fins to counter balance the antenna and nose, wingtip and tail mounted counter measure systems. The aircraft will also have chaff and flare dispensers and approx 60 antenna and sensor apertures. The IDG's will be uprated to 180kVA. DOW is expected to be just over 50,000Kg.
The first green aircraft arrived at Wichita in December 2002 for structural modifications. Flight testing of the airframe ran from May 2004 until Jul 2005 with the aircraft logging more than 500 flight hours in 245 flights. According to Boeing “The plane performed superbly in terms of its avionics, structure, systems, flight handling characteristics and performance”. This was followed by flight testing of the mission system, including the MESA radar. All appeared to be going well for the project until 2006 when the first of the delays was announced because of “development and integration issues with certain hardware and software components”. Deliveries are expected to begin to Australia in late 2009 and to Turkey not before 2010. The first aircraft are unlikely to reach full operational capability until 2012.
The aircraft will be known as the “Wedgetail” by the RAAF after the Australian Wedgetail Eagle, which according to the Aussies, “Has extremely acute vision, ranges widely in search of prey, protects its territory without compromise and stays aloft for long periods of time.” The Turkish AF will call theirs the “Peace Eagle”, presumably for similar reasons. Boeing are hoping to sell up to 30 AEW&Cs by 2016"
Fuente:
http://www.b737.org.uk/737ng.htm