UK to build AEW&C aircraft for US
STS Aviation Services performing radar and mission systems integration work on two of three Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft for the RAF. The UK company will now do the same for two aircraft for the USAF. (Boeing)
The United Kingdom is to build Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft for the United States under an agreement announced by both governments during the state visit of US President Donald Trump on 18 September.
The deal will see Boeing utilise STS Aviation Services' assembly line in the UK city of Birmingham to convert two 737 airliners to the Wedgetail AEW&C configuration for the US Air Force (USAF).
“For the first time in over 50 years, Britain will help build military aircraft under contract for the US Air Force,” the UK government said (while the Short Sherpa cargo aircraft was built for the USAF and US Army in Belfast in the 1980s, Northern Ireland is part of the UK but not part of Britain).
The work at STS Aviation Services' Birmingham plant essentially comprises mating the Northrop Grumman Multirole Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar with the 737 Next-Generation (NG) airframe, as well as the fitting of the mission and military systems. Despite some programmatic problems, the company recently completed this work on three Wedgetail aircraft for the UK Royal Air Force (RAF), the first of which is scheduled to enter service in 2026.
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