E-7.txt

Aircraft: E-7 Wedgetail
RAF Numbers: 0 (5 on order)
Location: Will be at RAF Waddington, 8 Sqn to transition to it
Ideal Speed: 455 kts
Ideal Height: 39,000-41,000 ft
Range: 3,500 nm
Roles: Airborne Early Warning
Sensors/Weapons: Northrop Grumman Multirole Electronic Scanned Array Radar (MESA)
                 Electronic Support Measures (ESM) package
                 Electronic Warfare Self-Protection (EWSP) Package
Capabilities: Big Radar, innit. Doubles as ELINT. Fighter-size targets in excess of 200 nm
Limitations: Looks like it top-fuels with a boom. It's not an airbus.
Comments: Should be pretty nice to have AEW that aren't a massive hangar queen liability.
          Slightly controversial as it was acquired without a competition and despite Saab
          proposals to fit an equivalent mission fit to the A330s we currently have stocks on.
Random Fact: The fixed "top hat" radar replaces the E-3Ds Smartie radar. It's more aerodynamic and
             can be so because it relies on the the same solid-state phased-array radar technology
             as we use at Fylingdales.