The first of three RAF E-7 Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft has arrived at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland for test and evaluation trials prior to entering squadron service.
The aircraft was flown to the airbase by a mixed crew of personnel from Boeing UK and the RAF, with the arriving jet then greeted by a member of the RAF Lossiemouth Pipe Band to celebrate the event. Group Captain Sarah Brewin, the Station Commander at RAF Lossiemouth, was present alongside representatives from Boeing UK, the Wedgetail Project Team as well as members from No 8 Squadron who will fly the aircraft in service.
Designed to provide long range air surveillance for the Royal Air Force and other allied powers, the Wedgetail AEW1 represents a quantum leap of design over its predecessor the E-3 Sentry. This aircraft, serial WT001, will now complete its test and evaluation trials, which will be split between MOD Boscombe Down and RAF Lossiemouth, to ensure that the aircraft is safe and viable for squadron service.
Once complete, No 8 Squadron will officially receive the aircraft for operations, however, with the other aircraft in the squadron still years away, it is unlikely the aircraft will be instantly deployable. Regardless, the Wedgetail will be a potent force multiplier for the RAF, especially when operated alongside the nine-strong fleet of Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft that will watch the seas whilst the Wedgetail watches the skies.
Welcome home to @RAFLossiemouth 1st of the E7 wedge tails WT001 arrived this afternoon #boeing #AviationNews #aviation #Military #avgeek #avgeeks pic.twitter.com/Y7gVNOsTKF
— stevo howells (@Stevo_SnakeDR) May 21, 2026
Both the P-8 Poseidon and the E-7 Wedgetail are based on the Boeing 737 NG airframe, with the main differences being that the P-8 has a longer fuselage and an opening bomb bay for the deployment of Torpedos and sonobuoys from the air. Both aircraft having the same base airframe will allow for a shared pool of spare parts for both aircraft enabling the more efficient maintenance of both fleets, once the other E-7s enter service.
E-7 #Wedgetail lands in Lossiemouth!
WT001, the first Wedgetail for the @royalairforce, has flown from @STSAviation to @RAFLossiemouth, where it will continue testing.
Welcome to Scotland. 🏴
More: https://t.co/YzByzkGsLm
📷: © Crown Copyright pic.twitter.com/USWGKUJBNk
— Boeing UK (@BoeingUK) May 21, 2026
On the aircraft’s arrival, Gp Capt Sarah Brewin stated:
“We are delighted to welcome the arrival of the first Wedgetail aircraft to RAF Lossiemouth to continue its Test and Evaluation phase. This marks a significant step in delivering the Royal Air Force’s next generation of airborne surveillance and control capabilities that will support the defence of the UK for the years to come. RAF Lossiemouth has been working hard to get ready to operate these aircraft, and we are looking forward very much to this next exciting chapter in the Station’s history when the aircraft enters RAF service.”
In addition, Boeing E-7 Vice President and Program Manager Stu Voboril stated:
“The E-7 will provide the UK with the world’s most advanced, capable and reliable Airborne Early Warning and Control platform, while supporting British industry through UK jobs and supply chain opportunities. Working closely with the RAF and the MOD, we look forward to continuing test and evaluation as the aircraft moves closer to entry into service.”
Delivery Delays
The RAF’s plan to equip itself with the E-7 Wedgetail has gone through many trials and tribulations since it was first announced in 2019. The original plan was for a fleet of five aircraft to operate alongside E-7s operated by NATO and the United States, however this has since fallen through due to diverging priorities for both entities.
The first speedbump to the program emerged during the 2021 Defence Review, when the decision was made to cut the number of aircraft from five to three to save on the initial cost of £2.155bn. Two aircraft were dropped but the British government had already agreed to pay for all five airborne radars, meaning that two extra sets are available for spares and maintenance. The costs at this point for the three aircraft and five radar sets was £1.89bn, with the aircraft predicted to begin entering into squadron service in 2023.
It was also decided that the E-3 Sentry AWACS would be retired early in 2021, instead of its original out of service date of 2035. These aircraft had been flying since 1991, and age and wear had forced the reduction of the fleet size down to three by the time it was retired.
Airframe fatigue and a decision made in the 2000s not to upgrade the airframes contributed to the decision to retire the aircraft early, as it was seen as a better use of taxpayer money to buy new aircraft that could give out a greater output than the maintenance heavy E-3s.
Since their retirement and scrapping, the UK has had a substantial capability gap that has forced reliance on allied AWACS operated by France, NATO and the United States as well as the Royal Navy’s Crowsnest equipped Merlin HMA2 helicopters. However, neither solution has been ideal for the UK’s own sovereign defence due to each nation having their own AWACS commitments, and the Crowsnest system being short ranged and unreliable.
Despite the E-7 being a seemingly off the shelf aircraft, in use with South Korea, Turkey and Australia, and with two aircraft being converted from second hand airframes, there has been considerable delay in putting these aircraft into service. This is due to obsolescence in many of the aircraft’s components which required new certifications for replacement parts. The E-7 Wedgetail program began in the 1990s with the aircraft produced for Australia, and since then technology has quickly moved on requiring substantial updates.
Internal difficulties at Boeing have also contributed to delays, preventing the aircraft from hitting its original in service date by three years, with the first airframe, WT001, only unveiled in its RAF livery in October 2024. With this aircraft now finally at RAF Lossiemouth, it is hoped that the troubled program will begin to turn a new leaf and provide the RAF with the airborne detection system that it desperately needs.
As it stands, the second airframe WT002 is currently being outfitted at the STS Aviation site in Birmingham with the airframe recently seen in January of this year. The final airframe WT003 is a new-build 737 which was only completed in 2022. It is unknown when this aircraft will start its conversion work as the focus is likely on WT002.
Proper cool sight at Birmingham Airport today…
The No.2 RAF E-7A Wedgetail (WT002) doing full engine run up tests right outside the STS hangar. This 14.7 year old ex-N449BJ 737-700BBJ (ex-Hongkong Jet/Longtail) arrived back in 2021 for conversion and is coming along nicely.… pic.twitter.com/gVeXMRhZmm
— Fahad Naim (@Fahadnaimb) February 21, 2026
International Disagreement
The plan to only buy three aircraft was never sufficient to cover the UK’s strategic early warning needs and so in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review it was revealed that the government would look at buying more. This would be done either when UK defence funding was high enough to allow for follow-on aircraft, or it would be done through an agreement with other NATO allies based on the joint needs of the alliance.
However, this plan may have been torpedoed as NATO has since cancelled its order for the E-7 Wedgetail, citing U.S. withdrawal from its own E-7 acquisition in 2025.
It is likely that instead NATO will choose a SAAB based option such as the Globaleye, as NATO members Sweden and France are currently in the process of equipping themselves with the platform, whilst other NATO operators already utilise the older Erieye AEW&C aircraft.
The US government came out against the acquisition of a manned AEW&C platform, instead favouring space based systems that would likely revolutionise airborne detection and command and control of the USAF. However, these capabilities are so far in their infancy that the US congress has begun to allocate funding to the E-7 regardless of what the US government originally planned. Given the loss of an E-3 Sentry after the Iran war this year, the decision to procure the E-7 is a wise one in the short to mid term.
However, the dilly-dally and delay generated by this back and forth on procurement, as well as the UK’s difficulties getting the aircraft into service, has put off NATO from ordering the platform. As it stands, all three AEW&C platforms are up in the air as to their longevity and functionability, with only time telling whether either entity will be able to deploy an effective fleet of aircraft.
This entire saga of aircraft procurement across the UK, U.S. and NATO is emblematic of an alliance that is disorganised and frayed, with allies not consulted and kept up to date on individual plans and requirements. The clear and united path of joint aircraft procurement that underpinned the E-3 Sentry acquisition of the early 1990s has degraded here, with member states now unable to support each other in terms of spares and supply as they would otherwise have been able to.
With any luck NATO will be able to overcome these obstacles in due course and all three AEW&C fleets will be able to operate alongside each other for the betterment of the alliance and its security.
