Boeing has received $2.43 billion in contracts from the US Air Force to continue development of the E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, indicating renewed support for the project.
The largest portion of the award—a $2.33-billion option exercise—will speed up prototype development for the aircraft’s mission systems, potentially covering sensors, radar capabilities, and battle management software. The US Department of Defense said the change increases the contract’s total value to about $4.91 billion.
In a separate modification worth $99.3 million, the Air Force addressed supply chain challenges related to the aircraft’s Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array radar. The update will replace obsolete components and sustain system development, bringing the overall contract value to roughly $5.01 billion.
Development work will primarily take place in Seattle, Washington, alongside activities in Oklahoma, Alabama, and Ohio. Oversight will be provided by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center based at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, with the effort planned to run through August 2032.
Program Comeback
These contract awards come after the Air Force moved in June 2025 to cancel the E-7A program as the Pentagon redirected resources toward space-based sensing technologies.
While acknowledging the Wedgetail as a capable platform, defense officials said future investments would focus on strengthening homeland defense and security operations in the Indo-Pacific region.
The service had initially chosen the E-7A in 2022 as the replacement for the aging E-3 Sentry airborne warning aircraft, with plans to procure 26 platforms between 2027 and 2032.
However, some US lawmakers argued that satellite-based sensors are not yet ready to fully take over the role of airborne early warning aircraft, stressing the continued importance of systems such as the E-7A until space-based capabilities are fully developed.
