Boeing E-7 Wedgetail

Updated: October 2026 – A gray 737 passes overhead, but on its back sits a long, flat structure as if someone had bolted a board onto the fuselage. Two small fins stick out under the tail. That is a Boeing E-7 Wedgetail, one of the most modern early warning and control aircraft in the world. It flies in Australia, South Korea, Turkey and now also in the United Kingdom – and at the same time has an eventful history with the US Air Force and NATO behind it. Here you will learn how to reliably recognize the E-7, how its radar works and who flies it.

What is the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail?

The E-7 is an AEW&C aircraft – the abbreviation stands for Airborne Early Warning and Control. From high altitude it monitors the airspace and the sea surface, detects aircraft, ships and other targets far beyond the horizon and directs friendly fighters toward them. On board, besides two pilots, several operators work at consoles that evaluate the picture and pass it on to ground stations, ships and aircraft.

The basis is the civilian Boeing 737-700 of the Next Generation family, which Boeing heavily modified for this role. The fuselage is strengthened to carry the heavy radar structure and is packed with electronics, cooling and workstations. For the mission crew there are eight consoles with room for four more; the Australian configuration has ten consoles. Above the cockpit there is a receptacle for aerial refueling so that the E-7 can stay over an area of operations for a long time.

The E-7 is powered by two CFM56-7B27A engines of about 121 kilonewtons thrust each – the same engine family you know from thousands of airline 737s. The maximum takeoff weight is about 77.6 tonnes, and the service ceiling about 12,500 meters. Australian crews have regularly flown missions of 13 hours, and the longest documented flight lasted over 17 hours. The civilian airframe is a big advantage: spare parts, maintenance and pilot training benefit from the huge worldwide 737 fleet. You can find more about the company behind it on the Boeing page.

The MESA radar: all-round coverage without a rotodome

The heart of the E-7 is Northrop Grumman’s Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA). Unlike on a classic AWACS, nothing rotates here. The antennas are fixed, and their beam is steered electronically. This brings advantages: the radar can scan individual areas more often on purpose, handle several tasks at once and needs no heavy mechanics with bearings and drive.

Because of its shape, the structure on the back is called the “Top Hat.” It is designed to keep drag as low as possible. Even so, that much mass above the fuselage disturbs the aerodynamics at the tail – which is why two ventral fins sit under the rear fuselage to restore stability. For spotters, exactly these fins are a helpful second feature when you see the E-7 at an angle from below.

According to publicly available figures, the radar in look-up mode detects targets at more than 600 kilometers. Signals intelligence reaches even further. Exact performance data is naturally secret, so you should treat the numbers as a rough guide. How the E-7 fits into the family of flying radar stations is explained in the overview Identifying AWACS, maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft.

Project Wedgetail: the long road to Australia

The E-7’s story begins in Australia. As early as the 1980s the Ministry of Defence examined solutions for its own early warning aircraft, and under the name Project Wedgetail the tender ran from 1996. The project is named after the wedge-tailed eagle, the continent’s largest bird of prey. In 1999 Boeing received the contract for four aircraft with an option for three more; in the end it was six.

The road was not easy. Integrating the radar and electronic protection systems caused major problems, Boeing had to book heavy charges in 2006 and reported further delays. The first two aircraft were built in the US, and the other four were converted in Australia at RAAF Base Amberley. In November 2009 the first two aircraft joined the Royal Australian Air Force, and the sixth aircraft was accepted in June 2012.

Year	Milestone
1999	Boeing wins Australia’s Project Wedgetail
2004	First flight of the 737 AEW&C
2009	First two aircraft to the RAAF in November
2011	First delivery to South Korea (Peace Eye) in August
2012	Sixth RAAF aircraft accepted, initial operational capability in November
2014	First aircraft for Turkey, first RAAF combat missions over Iraq
2015	Full operational capability with the RAAF in May
2019	The UK orders the E-7
2022	US Air Force announces the E-7 as the successor to the E-3
2023	NATO chooses the E-7 for its AWACS replacement
2025	Cancellation attempt in the US, NATO partners pull out
2026	First RAF aircraft arrives at Lossiemouth

Since then the E-7 has long passed its test in Australia. It flew its first operational mission in April 2014 in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, and from October 2014 it supported the coalition against ISIS over Iraq. From October 2023 to April 2024 an Australian E-7 was based in Germany to monitor the supply routes into Ukraine from the air; a further deployment in Europe followed in 2025. These very experiences made the type interesting for other air forces.

The operators

Australia

The Royal Australian Air Force operates six E-7A with No. 2 Squadron at RAAF Base Williamtown in New South Wales, north of Sydney. As the launch customer, Australia decisively shaped the development. The aircraft wear a gray paint scheme with the red kangaroo in a circle.

South Korea

The South Korean air force ordered four aircraft in 2006 under the project name Peace Eye. The first arrived in August 2011, the fourth in October 2012. They are based at Gimhae Air Base near Busan. For its next procurement of further early warning aircraft, however, South Korea decided in 2025 against the E-7 and for an offer from L3Harris.

Turkey

The Turkish air force ordered four aircraft under the name Peace Eagle, in Turkish Barış Kartalı, internally designated E-7T. Turkish Aerospace was involved in the conversion. The program was delayed by years; Turkey took over the first aircraft in February 2014 and the fourth in December 2015. The aircraft fly with the 131st Squadron at Konya military airfield and carry the names Kuzey, Güney, Doğu and Batı – north, south, east and west. In 2023 Turkey commissioned an upgrade with domestic electronics. If you want to spot in Turkey, read the article Photographing at airports in Turkey beforehand.

United Kingdom

The Royal Air Force initially ordered five E-7s in 2019 but cut the number to three in 2021. The British designation is Wedgetail AEW1. The conversion is carried out by STS Aviation Services at Birmingham Airport; two airframes come from used 737s, and one is newly built. The gap is large, because the RAF already retired its E-3D Sentry in 2021.

The first aircraft, with the serial WT001, was presented in RAF colors in October 2024 and was seen at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford in 2025, together with the Red Arrows. On May 21, 2026 it landed for the first time at its home base RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, where it is based alongside the RAF’s P-8 Poseidons. No. 8 Squadron will operate it. Testing and training are still under way in 2026, and the two other aircraft are still being converted (as of October 2026).

Operator	Designation	Number	Base
Australia (RAAF)	E-7A Wedgetail	6	Williamtown
South Korea	Peace Eye	4	Gimhae
Turkey	E-7T Peace Eagle	4	Konya
United Kingdom (RAF)	Wedgetail AEW1	3 ordered	Lossiemouth
USA (USAF)	E-7A	Prototypes in development	–

Program status at the US Air Force

For the US Air Force the E-7 was meant to replace the aging E-3 Sentry. The air force announced this decision in April 2022, and the contract for two prototypes followed in 2023. A fleet of 26 aircraft was planned at the time, with the first due to be operational in 2027.

In June 2025 came the about-face: in its draft budget for 2026 the Pentagon proposed canceling the program. It cited delays, rising unit costs and doubts about whether a large radar aircraft can survive in a modern conflict. It wanted to shift some of the tasks to satellites. The US Congress saw it differently and ordered in the 2026 budget that development continue; the draft defense budget provided about 1.1 billion US dollars for it.

In March 2026 the Air Force then awarded new contracts to Boeing worth about 2.4 billion US dollars in total. They cover further development through the phase of development and test aircraft and also secure the supply of radar components. For fiscal year 2027, too, the Air Force has again requested funds for the E-7. This does not, however, come with a commitment to series procurement.

NATO and the E-7

NATO, too, initially bet on the E-7. Its fleet of 14 E-3A at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen has been in service since the early 1980s and is due to be replaced by 2035. Under the Alliance Future Surveillance and Control program, the choice fell at the end of 2023 on six E-7s, which were to fly from Geilenkirchen from 2031.

After the US wanted to drop out of its own E-7 project in 2025, the participating countries pulled the plug: in November 2025 the Netherlands declared on behalf of the partners that the procurement would not be pursued. Since then, according to consistent media reports, the Swedish Saab GlobalEye has been considered the favorite, which France is also procuring for itself. According to the reports available to us, there was no signed contract as of October 2026. For spotters at the fence in Teveren this means: the E-3As remain the picture at Geilenkirchen for now. You can find more about the Swedish manufacturer on the Saab page.

How to identify the E-7

If you know the 737, you recognize the E-7 immediately – the blade on its back is unmistakable.

Mix-ups are possible mainly among military 737s and with other radar aircraft:

Feature	E-7 Wedgetail	E-3 Sentry	P-8 Poseidon	E-767
Basis	737-700	707-320	737-800	767-200
Engines	2	4	2	2
Radar on the back	flat blade	round rotodome	none	round rotodome
Wingtips	Blended winglets	none	raked	none
Ventral fins	yes	no	no	no

The Japanese E-767 and the E-3 Sentry both carry the classic round radar disc, and the E-2 Hawkeye is a small propeller aircraft with a rotodome. The P-8 Poseidon shares the 737 genes with the E-7 but has no structure on its back. Another special surveillance aircraft from Boeing’s program is the RC-135, though based on the older C-135. Civilian cousins are the 737-700 and the Boeing Business Jet. How to tell the 737 generations apart in general is shown in the article Telling the Boeing 737 Original, Classic, NG and MAX apart.

Where you can spot the E-7

The E-7’s home bases are in Australia, South Korea, Turkey and Scotland. In central Europe it is a rare visitor. Your best chances are in the UK: since 2026 Lossiemouth has been the base of the RAF Wedgetail, and major airshows such as the Royal International Air Tattoo have already presented the E-7. Whether it will be there in a year is revealed by the participant list.

Exercises and deployments also bring the E-7 to Europe, as the Australian Ukraine mission from Germany showed. You are most likely to notice such deployments through tracking services: many military aircraft transmit ADS-B data, and on ferry flights they often show up. Which tools are suitable is explained in the article Tracking military aircraft online. You can best research individual aircraft and their history in the Scramble database.

If you are generally interested in flying radar stations, the Teveren spotters’ hill at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen is the first address in Germany – there you see the E-3A, whose succession the E-7 was originally meant to take on. In the US, a visit to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle is worthwhile: the site lies in the middle of the Boeing world around Seattle, which the E-7’s 737 airframes also come from.

Photo tips for the E-7

What is special about the E-7 is its silhouette – your photo should be built around that.

For planning light and equipment, the guides on airshow photography and on photographing aircraft at high altitude help.

Conclusion

The E-7 Wedgetail shows how much can be packed into an unremarkable 737: an electronically steered radar with all-round coverage, a large mission crew and the maintenance advantages of a widely used airframe. In Australia, South Korea and Turkey it has been in service for years, and the UK took delivery of its first aircraft in 2026. At the US Air Force and NATO, on the other hand, it stands for a program whose future is politically contested. For spotters it is a rare but easily recognized catch.