New Wine in Old Bottles

In the United States, nearly 70 E-3 Sentries were built on the 707 airframe between 1977 and 1992 for the United States (33), NATO (17), Great Britain (7), Saudi Arabia (5), and France (4). Nearly all remain in service. When the 707 production line closed, Boeing offered an upgraded AWACS on the newer 767 widebody airframe. Japan, still the only operator of the E-767 AWACS, has four in service.

“While the 707- and 767-based AWACS fleets are several decades old, consistent and continuous sustainment and modernization efforts by owning militaries have kept both fleets extremely viable and able to successfully continue the range of battle management and C2 operations required by U.S. and international air forces.”

“While the 707- and 767-based AWACS fleets are several decades old, consistent and continuous sustainment and modernization efforts by owning militaries have kept both fleets extremely viable and able to successfully continue the range of battle management and C2 operations required by U.S. and international air forces,” said Lisa Crego, senior business development manager at Boeing Airborne Surveillance, Command & Control.

Boeing received a $172 million full rate production (FRP) contract in 2013 for hardware and software for five AWACS aircraft and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components for 10 additional aircraft. The U.S. Block 40/45 upgrade features new mission computing hardware and software, improved operator console displays and controls, upgraded radar equipment, communications and navigation functionality, and an enhanced electronic support measures system. Initial deliveries are scheduled in 2014.

Under an earlier low rate initial production (LRIP) contract, three AWACS aircraft were upgraded to the Block 40/45 configuration and currently operate with the fleet. Modifications to three more aircraft will be completed in April 2014.

Boeing also received a $368 million engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) contract in 2012 for flight deck and avionics upgrades to both the U.S. and NATO AWACS fleets. The EMD contract calls for integration of new and existing avionics and communications systems on one aircraft in each fleet by the end of 2015. Production contracts for the remaining aircraft in the fleets will be awarded later.

“Moving from analog systems to a digital flight deck is a major technological advance for the fleets. The upgraded flight deck will feature five main glass displays, offering the pilot and co-pilot user-friendly and customizable information,” Crego explained. “These enhancements enable the U.S. and NATO AWACS fleets to meet current civil air traffic management requirements and provide growth capability for any future requirements. They also solve the problem of diminished manufacturing sources for flight avionics.”

“Moving from analog systems to a digital flight deck is a major technological advance for the fleets. The upgraded flight deck will feature five main glass displays, offering the pilot and co-pilot user-friendly and customizable information.”

A $354 million mid-life upgrade has begun on the French E-3 fleet, with the first aircraft scheduled for completion in 2013 and the remainder of the fleet by 2016. Based on the U.S. Block 40/45 system, the French upgrade to electrical, mechanical, and structural systems and mission hardware is designed to enhance the potential for network- enabled operations, increase mission execution capability, reliability, and effectiveness, and reduce life-cycle costs.

The changes include a primary AWACS display, with an intuitive interface and detailed map database to increase situational awareness, an upgraded Identification Friend or Foe Interrogation (with Mode S and Mode 5 capability), an increase in mission consoles from 10 to 14, enhanced combat identification through integrated sensor and off-board datalinks, and advanced battle management tools, including Automatic Air Tasking Orders, Airspace Coordination Order updates, resource and sensor management, and automated decision aids.

A Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract is in the process of upgrading the radar on Saudi Arabia’s five AWACS platforms through December 2015.

An upgrade program also was initiated for Japan’s fleet of four E-767 AWACS, comprising an improved mission navigation system and a Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP). The RSIP will increase radar sensitivity to detect and track a wider assortment of targets over a longer range, improve the radar’s anti-jamming capability, and incorporate a new, high-reliability multiprocessor and software rewritten to enable easier maintenance and future enhancements.

Although sometimes used as a generic term, AWACS officially refers only to the original Boeing 707- and 767-based platforms; all other aircraft of this type are designated as AEW&Cs, but the differences – even among Boeing- and other U.S.-built aircraft – can be substantial.

Introduced into service in 2009, the 737 AEW&C was developed to meet the requirements of Australia’s “Project Wedgetail.” Australia now has six in service, with another four each sold to South Korea and Turkey; Italy and the United Arab Emirates have the aircraft under consideration.

Although sometimes used as a generic term, AWACS officially refers only to the original Boeing 707- and 767-based platforms; all other aircraft of this type are designated as AEW&Cs, but the differences – even among Boeing- and other U.S.-built aircraft – can be substantial.

“The newer 737-based AEW&C fleet takes advantage of recent technological advances in areas such as radar, engines, and mission computing capability, allowing exceptional operational capability at substantial life-cycle cost savings,” Crego said. “Both AWACS and AEW&C fleets are interoperable, providing an outstanding combination of capability whether operating as a single type platform or mixed fleet.”

AWACS and the 737 AEW&C are not the only C4ISR manned airborne platforms, in current or future fleets. Many nations are looking for aircraft that are less expensive to acquire, maintain, and operate, typically niche capabilities that do not require the range or full mission services of an AWACS.

Those include Joint STARS, various RC-135 derivatives, even the Army’s 40-year-old Guardrail, a twin-turboprop Special Electronic Mission Aircraft originally designated as the RU-21 and built on a Beechcraft King Air 200. Replacement with the RU-12 began in 1984 as the Improved Guardrail V program.

“The [Boeing] RC-135 Rivet Joint and [EC-130H] Compass Call [an airborne tactical weapon system using a heavily modified version of the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules] are often left out of studies of dedicated platforms,” Rockwell noted. “But those converted transports are full high-altitude SIGINT [signals intelligence] capability for the Air Force, after AWACS and JSTARS. But we’re looking at more classified efforts as they move to stealth.

“The Navy has the P-8, being touted as a high-capability future manned ISR platform. The Army isn’t looking at a big platform, but is trying to push through EMARSS [Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System]. In terms of next-generation stealthy penetrating, we’re probably looking at UAVs, although there could be a manned platform in there.”

The P-8, a military derivative of the Boeing Next-Generation 737-800, will replace the Lockheed P-3 Orion anti-submarine warfare aircraft that entered service with the U.S. Navy in 1962. As the P-8A Poseidon, it not only will provide enhanced long-range anti- submarine/anti-surface warfare and ISR capabilities, but possesses an advanced mission system for maximum interoperability in future broad-area maritime and littoral operations.

The international P-8I variant is being produced for the Indian Navy, and several other nations, including Australia and Italy, have expressed interest. In addition, a P-8 AGS (Airborne Ground Surveillance) variant has been offered to the U.S. Air Force as it conducts an analysis of alternatives on how best to modernize its E-8C JSTARS fleet. The USAF also is scheduled to begin such an analysis of AWACS in FY 16, determining the capabilities required to effectively execute the AWACS mission through the 21st century.

As the United States completes its withdrawal from Southwest Asia and puts more emphasis on the Asia Pacific region, it also will be moving from decades of conflicts in essentially uncontested airspace, where a “look down” capability such as JSTARS’ is often sufficient, to a more near-peer environment where the outward looking capability of AWACS, in contested airspace, is preferred. But Crego and Bryan Lima, director of Northrop Grumman’s Joint STARS program, insist JSTARS’ perceived limitations no longer apply.

“JSTARS is a battle management and C2 platform focused on the ground battle, housing a synthetic aperture radar/ground moving target indicator radar primarily used to detect and track moving targets on the ground. However, the radar also has the ability to detect and track rotating targets and slow-moving aircraft,” Crego said. “And while both AWACS and AEW&C are primarily focused on the air battle, each has a very robust surface detection and tracking capability as well, which nations such as Japan, Korea, and Australia depend heavily upon in their theaters of operation.

“Regarding permissive versus non-permissive environments, this entire discussion is moot. While JSTARS, AEW&Cs, and AWACS were designed to operate effectively from permissive environments – often referred to as stand-off capability – all three can operate out of any environment based upon mission needs and the amount of risk necessary to ensure mission success. Of the three, AEW&C is the only aircraft currently equipped with threat warning and self-protection capabilities.”

“I don’t think ISR in general will suffer the downturn of others,” Rockwell said of increasingly tighter global defense spending, “but we will be moving to less expensive approaches.”

Lima agreed that JSTARS has been underrated.

“Joint STARS is unique because it specifically operates at extended ranges and has significant stand-off capabilities, which make it suitable to support anti-access/area denial operations,” he said. “The platform was initially designed as an outward and forward-looking, wide-area surveillance and manned battle management system to detect hostile ground movements. It received accolades for Operation Odyssey Dawn and Unified Protector over Libya in 2011 and has consistently been considered the most advanced targeting and battle management system in the world.”

The first aircraft designed from scratch for the AEW mission was the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, a twin-turboprop, all-weather, carrier-capable tactical aircraft that entered service in 1964 with a battle management C2 system designed to maximize the performance of its radar and other sensors. More than 100 of the current E-2C version are in service with the U.S. Navy, Egyptian Air Force, French Navy, Japanese Air Self Defense Force, and Taiwanese Air Force.

It, too, has undergone numerous upgrades, the latest being the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, which entered FRP in February 2013, with deliveries of 75 aircraft scheduled through 2021 and initial operational capability in 2015.

“The E-2D is a multi-mission platform that includes airborne early warning, battle management C2, search and rescue coordination, and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief,” Bart LaGrone, vice president for E-2/C-2 Programs at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, said. “It is the cornerstone of Naval Integrated Fire Control- Counter Air (NIFC-CA) and Theater Air Missile Defense. With its newly developed AN/ APY-9 radar, the Advanced Hawkeye provides uncompromised 360-degree radar coverage and works in concert with surface combatants equipped with the Aegis combat system to detect, track, and defeat cruise missile threats at extended range.”

With an increasing demand for border patrol and regional defense capabilities, free from reliance on foreign assets, the future for airborne C4ISR – primarily manned, but with growing interest in hybrid and unmanned – appears bright.

“I don’t think ISR in general will suffer the downturn of others,” Rockwell said of increasingly tighter global defense spending, “but we will be moving to less expensive approaches.”