US Air Force E-7 aircraft to get advanced MESA surveillance radar

News, US March 24, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

United States defense manufacturer Northrop Grumman to produce the advanced Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) surveillance radar for the U.S. Air Force E-7 aircraft.

According to the Northrop Grumman statement, the combat-proven MESA sensor would provide critical long-range sensing, detection, and identification in challenging environments to the U.S. Air Force, as part of the E-7 weapons system.

The statement added that the radar system provides “simultaneous air and maritime sensing capabilities, critical early warning, and air battle management capabilities”, to the U.S. Air Force.

Vice president of airborne surveillance programs at Northrop Grumman, Ed Griebel said, “The multifunction MESA sensor will provide the U.S. Air Force with critical multi-domain awareness to enable decision superiority for the range of mission requirements today and into the future”.

Ed Griebel further added that “As we fulfill our promise to the Air Force to rapidly bring unmatched, decisive air battle management sensing capabilities including long range first detect and first engagement in the battlespace, we look forward to enabling global allied interoperability in partnership with Boeing.”

The Northrop Grumman statement highlighted that “This modern Airborne Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) sensor is already in production and deployed for customers worldwide, providing 360-degree situational awareness and flexibility to adapt to missions and environments in all weather conditions.”

“MESA allows operators to simultaneously focus on priority missions, rapidly revisit targets with increased accuracy, and pass relevant information to enable timely Battle Management Command and Control decisions,” the company said in a statement.

According to Northrop Grumman, MESA is on an active production line to address global threats in the modern-day battlespace and evolve to meet future mission requirements.

*^{U.S. Air Force future tactical battle management, command & control E-7A aircraft. (Image Credit: U.S. Air Force/Twitter)}*

Earlier this month, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a $1.2 billion worth contract for a fleet of 26 E-7A battle management and command-and-control aircraft to replace its aging fleet of E-3 Sentry AWCS planes. Originally produced for the Royal Australian Air Force, the E-7 is also called the Wedgetail due to its distinct design features. Due to an evident success with the Royal Australian Air Force, the Wedgetail became a certain candidate to replace the E-3 for the U.S. Air Force.

The E-7 is an integrated, command and control aircraft that leverages networked connectivity, edge processing capabilities and communications, and sensor data generation to support significantly improved operational decision-making and resilient and efficient force employment. According to Boeing, the aircraft has next-generation, multi-domain capabilities providing accurate, timely, and effective support.

The aircraft has an open systems architecture and agile software design which will evolve its capabilities to meet future threats. Other E-7 aircraft operators include the Royal Australian Air Force, the Republic of Korea Air Force, the Turkish Air Force, and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force.