The U.S. Air Force plans to purchase five Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne surveillance aircraft, supplementing two prototype jets already under contract, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee on Thursday.
Meink specified that the five aircraft are intended to be engineering and manufacturing development E-7As. The plane model is a surveillance and early warning platform derived from Boeing’s 737 commercial airframe.
The announcement comes after a period of procurement uncertainty for the E-7A program. Last year the Department of Defense scaled back plans that had envisioned acquiring 26 E-7As to replace an aging fleet of AWACS - airborne early warning and control system - aircraft. That decision prompted NATO to cancel its own plan to buy six E-7As.
Prior U.S. commitments included two E-7A prototypes that remain under contract. The newly disclosed plan to add five engineering and manufacturing development aircraft expands the U.S. purchase beyond those initial prototype commitments, according to Meink’s remarks to the subcommittee.
Details beyond the number and type of aircraft announced by Meink were not provided at the hearing. The information released to the subcommittee reiterates that the E-7A platform is based on Boeing’s widely used 737 jet and that current U.S. procurement intentions now encompass a total of seven E-7As at varying stages of development and contract status.
Observers and stakeholders in defense and aerospace markets will likely watch for follow-up procurement decisions and any further statements from the Air Force or the Pentagon that clarify the program’s longer-term trajectory. As of Meink’s testimony, the explicit commitments are the two prototypes already contracted and the plan to buy five engineering and manufacturing development E-7As.
Contextual note - The program’s earlier reduced acquisition plan and NATO’s subsequent cancellation remain part of the public record and frame the significance of this latest U.S. acquisition announcement.