Page 56 - Australian Defence Magazine November 2022

56 COMMUNICATIONS C4I
NOVEMBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
WEDGETAIL SPREADS ITS WINGS
With two-thirds of the RAAF’s Wedgetail fleet now upgraded under the incremental Air 5077 Phase 5A program, there is work underway to expand its Air Battle Management (ABM) capabilities even further.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | RAAF TINDAL & MELBOURNE
IN addition, the RAAF’s Wedgetail crews are benefitting from the experience of US and UK Airborne Early Warning & Con- trol System (AWACS) crews that are embedded within No.2 Squadron at Williamtown, prior to the Royal Air Force and US Air Force receiving their own aircraft later this decade.
Based on the successful Boeing 737 commercial airliner, in particular the 737-700IGW (Increased Gross Weight) variant, the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warn- ing and Control (AEW&C) capability was acquired under an earlier phase of Air 5077.
No.2 Squadron has an establishment of six aircraft at Williamtown and maintains a Forward Operating Base (FAB) at RAAF Tindal in the Northern Territory. The E-7 is also in service with the Turkish Air Force under the ‘Peace Eagle’ program, and the Republic of Korea Air Force under its ‘Peace Eye’ program. Significantly, the E-7 has recently
been selected by the UK as a replacement for its now retired Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW capability.
The US Air Force also intends to acquire the Wedgetail to replace its upgraded but elderly E-3G fleet and both ser- vices have personnel embedded with 2 Sqn for experience.
WEDGETAIL OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT
The series of incremental upgrades being carried out under Air 5077 Phase 5A primarily address a range of obsolescence and compliance issues and improve interoperability with Australia’s allies and partners. These include the addition of a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), Identification Friend Foe (IFF) Mode 5, a wideband satellite communica- tions (SATCOM) system and software upgrade of the Wedget- ail’s primary sensor, the Northrop Grumman (MESA) radar.
“Phase 5A is actually divided up into three different