First Wedgetail for UK makes maiden flight

The first of three Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AEW1 aircraft makes its maiden flight on 20 September. (Boeing/Crown Copyright)

The first of three Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning Mk 1 (AEW1) aircraft for the United Kingdom made its maiden flight on 20 September.

The test and evaluation flight check took place out of Birmingham Airport, from where STS Aviation Services has been converting the 737 Next Generation (NG) airframes into the Wedgetail AEW1 configuration.

“Achieving the first flight of Wedgetail is a significant milestone [for] the RAF [Royal Air Force] programme team, DE&S [Defence Equipment and Support], Boeing, and STS Aviation. We will now build on this success and look forward to continuing the test and evaluation phase as part of our preparations for the aircraft to enter into service,” Group Captain Richard Osselton, RAF programme director for Wedgetail, said.

Following a series of flight tests and further evaluation over the coming weeks, the aircraft will depart to a paint facility to receive its RAF livery ahead of delivery to its future operating unit of 8 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland in 2025. The first flight milestone came a day after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that a new facility had been opened at RAF Lossiemouth to maintain the Wedgetail fleet.