UK E-7 Wedgetail facing ‘obsolescence’ issues before even entering service

The UK National Armaments Director has admitted that the UK military is facing “very significant delays” to the introduction of the E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, due to an apparent assumption that the platform would be much the same as that delivered to Australia.

The E-7 was first delivered in Australian service in 2010, with the RAAF operating a fleet of six Wedgetails. It was not until 2019, nine years after the arrival of the first Australian E-7s, that the UK placed an order for a fleet of five, later cut to three, Wedgetail AEW platforms.

Service entry for the £2bn ($2.6bn) UK programme has been consistently delayed, with the possibility that the type will not even enter UK service in the revised 2026 timeline.

Giving evidence at the UK Defence Committee on 17 March, the head of the UK Ministry of Defence’s National Armaments Directorate, Rupert Pearce, appeared to admit that a basic error of “timing” was down to the delay.

“We thought we were going to get an aircraft that was largely proven out of Australia, but in fact the time difference between the Australian version of Wedgetail flying and our own has meant a much higher level of obsolescence and new certification of new components,” Pearce said.

As a result, Pearce admitted that this had caused “very significant delays” to the programme.

In addition, Pearce said that Boeing had been “a troubled partner”, stating the US aerospace prime had “difficulties inside their own aircraft programmes” which had led to a higher level of scrutiny at the certification process inside the company.

It is astonishing that a platform ordered for the UK military is facing obsolescence issues before it has even entered service.

At the time of publishing, the UK Ministry of Defence had not responded to requests for comment regarding the revised in-service date for the UK Wedgetail fleet.

Persistent troubles have plagued the programme, which will also see the delivery of five MESA radars for the UK’s reduced fleet of three aircraft, reflective of the number needed for the original order.

It is also uncertain how these ongoing issues could impact the planned delivery of two E-7 Wedgetail AEW aircraft to the United States, with conversion of former Boeing airliners intending to be completed in the UK.