Australia takes delivery of Wedgetails

CANBERRA, Australia, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Boeing has delivered two of its "Wedgetail" airborne early warning and control aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force at its Williamtown air base.

AEW&C Program Manager Air Vice Marshal Chris Deeble said the planes, based on Boeing's 737 airframe and assembled and tested in Seattle, are critical to Australia's air combat capability.

"The Wedgetail aircraft is a first-of-type development and extremely complex, given the range of cutting-edge radar technology and sensors that will be incorporated into each aircraft," Deeble said in a written statement from the Defense Materiel Organization.

"Development, test and evaluation are ongoing with many hurdles still to be overcome, particularly with respect to radar, electronic support measures and integrated system performance and stability.

"However with the initial delivery of two aircraft, Defense will now be able to conduct familiarization training while Boeing completes the remaining test program and acceptance activities," Deeble said.

Boeing has also delivered an operational flight trainer, mission simulator and support system.

Boeing is scheduled to deliver three more Wedgetails by the end of 2010, including one upgraded in the final AEW&C configuration with electronic support measures. All Wedgetails will be upgraded in the final configuration by early 2011.

Maureen Dougherty, Boeing vice president of the Airborne Early Warning and Control Program, said, "Australia is leading the way with the most capable electronically scanned air surveillance radar and battle management system in the world."

The RAAF will eventually have six Wedgetails. All planes will be based at the AEW&C center in Williamtown and operated by No. 2 Squadron RAAF, with a permanent detachment at RAAF Base Tindal.

Its first flight was in 2004, and Boeing is also contracted to manufacture Wedgetails for the Turkish air force and the Republic of Korea air force.

Australia ordered four of the planes from Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in 1997, with an option for three more, but has taken up only two. The remaining four planes will be assembled in Australia.

For the Australian aircraft, Boeing and Northrop Grumman are teamed with Boeing Australia Ltd., BAE Systems Australia and Qantas Defense Services. Boeing Australia provides training, maintenance and support. BAE provides electronic warfare self-protection systems, electronic support measures systems and ground support. Civilian airline Qantas provides maintenance.

The two-engine Wedgetail is about half the weight of the four-engine 707 based E-3 Sentry, with a rotating radar antenna as used by the U.S. military.

The Wedgetail has a fixed Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array radar located on a dorsal fin on top of the fuselage, dubbed the "top hat." The position is designed for minimal aerodynamic effect.

The radar is capable of simultaneous air and sea search, fighter control and area search. Other modifications include ventral fins to counterbalance the radar and countermeasures mounted on the nose, wingtips and tail.

The cabin features eight operator consoles with sufficient space for four more, but the RAAF planes operate 10 consoles with space for two more.

A report in The Australian newspaper said the planes' radar is far from ready for operational use.

Other media have also said that the "non-operational delivery" is a result of radar and ESM development problems that delayed the first scheduled delivery back in 2006. Boeing spent $1 billion fixing the problems.

A report by FlightGlobal.com noted that the Australian government's concerns prompted an engineering review by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratories. The review reaffirmed that Boeing and Northrop Grumman's technical approach was valid.