Boeing E-3D / E-3F Sentry
The Anglo-French Sentries — CFM56 turbofans, a refuelling probe and longer endurance for the RAF and the French Air Force · Ordered 1987 · In service 1991
Britain and France ordered their Sentries together in February 1987, Britain after abandoning the Nimrod AEW3. Both versions use the quieter, more economical CFM56 turbofan already chosen by Saudi Arabia, which stretches unrefuelled endurance to about 11 hours. The RAF's seven E-3Ds — designated Sentry AEW1 in British service — added a nose refuelling probe alongside the boom receptacle, wingtip ESM pods, maritime surveillance capability, JTIDS and Have Quick radios. The four French E-3Fs were built to E-3C standard with French modifications.
The first Sentry was handed over to the RAF on 26 March 1991, replacing the piston-engined Shackleton AEW2; the fleet flew with No. 8 Squadron (and later No. 23 Squadron) at RAF Waddington. France's E-3Fs serve with the 36e Escadre de détection et de contrôle aéroportés at Avord, where they were upgraded under the Radar System Improvement Program in the 2000s.
The RAF retired the Sentry in 2021, with the type's last flight in UK service in August and formal retirement on 28 September; its successor is the 737-based E-7 Wedgetail. Chile bought three of the ex-RAF aircraft in 2021, the first arriving in July 2022, while France's E-3Fs remain in service.
