On the opening day of the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday, Boeing Senior Director of India, Asia and Pacific International Sales Randy Rotte said the company was looking towards a surge on sales for its E-7 Airborne Warning & Control (AEW&C) platform following the recent decision in the UK to order it and burgeoning interest in the US.
Rotte added that a US purchase of the aircraft would potentially allow the aircraft to be sold via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mechanism, rather than a Direct Commercial Sale (DCS), which he said has already seen renewed interest from potential customers.
The US Air Force released a Request For Information to industry in February, for the potential acquisition of E-7-derivative aircraft to replace the ageing Boeing E-3G Sentry Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) fleet. US media reports suggest that up to 30 aircraft may be required.
The E-7 is known as the E-7A Wedgetail in RAAF service, with six being operated by 2 Squadron from RAAF Base Williamtown. But apart from the recent sale of five aircraft (later reduced to just three) to the UK, the only other E-7 operators for more than a decade have been Turkey and South Korea.
In addition, Boeing is facing a closure of its P-8A Poseidon (which is also based on the 737 Next Generation civil airliner) production line if further orders are not forthcoming. While the pressure off the Poseidon line for the time being – recent sales have been made to the UK, Norway, South Korea and possibly Germany which is no longer in production – the largest customer, the US Navy, is at the end of its P-8A production program.
However, with other potential sales in the offing – to Canada for example – and a resurgence in interest in the E-7, Rotte said he is optimistic about the future.
“There are two countries who operate the E-7 in the region, in Korea and Australia, and they’ve perhaps provided a road map forward for other customers,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that if that was what the USAF wanted, there are benefits then to other customers. So, I think [a US Air Force order] would have a major impact internationally, I don’t want to quantify but we can sense from our customers that they’re very interested in that.”
“There is strong demand for the NG, the line is still running and it will run until demand dries up, which doesn’t seem anywhere in the near future.”