Nournews: This aircraft, known as an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), can monitor vast areas to detect aircraft and missiles and can function as an airborne command center to direct operations and fire control.

The closest replacement for this U.S. aircraft is the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail, with the cost of building each unit estimated at over $700 million.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon approved a plan in 2023 to acquire the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail to replace the E-3. However, the program has faced multiple delays and rising costs.

The U.S. Air Force announced this month that Boeing could build up to seven of these aircraft under a multi-billion-dollar budget.

In the meantime, U.S. forces have relied on older E-3 aircraft dating back to the Cold War era. The U.S. AWACS fleet, which once numbered more than 30 aircraft, had already declined to around 16 before Iran’s strike on one stationed in Saudi Arabia.

The high maintenance costs of these aging aircraft have reduced their availability for deployment and daily operations.

Gen. Glen VanHerck, a retired U.S. Air Force general and former NORAD commander, told The Wall Street Journal:
“The E-3 has long outlived its service life and paid for itself years ago. The real cost lies in mission impact and training crews for the future. That is the true cost of losing an airborne platform within such a small fleet as the E-3.”

The E-3 Sentry aircraft, built on the Boeing 707 airframe, have been the backbone of the U.S. AWACS system since the Cold War. Each aircraft is equipped with a rotating radar mounted above the fuselage with a range of about 400 kilometers, capable of tracking dozens of aerial targets simultaneously.

Since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran on February 28, which has resulted in the deaths of many Iranian civilians and caused extensive damage to residential areas, Iran has, as part of Operation True Promise 4, targeted U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan. The cost of repairing and replacing damaged U.S. equipment has reached billions of dollars.