Boeing E-3G Sentry
Block 40/45 — the USAF's AWACS rebuilt around open-architecture mission computers for the networked era · Initial operational capability 2014
The Block 40/45 programme replaced the 1970s-era mission computing of the E-3B and E-3C with commercial, open-architecture hardware and new software, adding automated functions that fuse radar and sensor data and speed up track management for the air battle managers. Converted aircraft were redesignated E-3G. Air Combat Command declared initial operational capability on 28 July 2014, when six modified aircraft had been delivered to the 552nd Air Control Wing, and 24 aircraft were planned for conversion.
The first combat deployment of the E-3G followed in November 2015. In parallel, the separate DRAGON programme gave the flight deck a digital cockpit and modern communication, navigation and air-traffic-management equipment, keeping the 707-derived airframe compliant with civil airspace rules.
As older E-3B/Cs were retired, the USAF's AWACS fleet shrank to a core of E-3Gs, sometimes seen working alongside the Royal Australian Air Force's E-7A Wedgetail, the 737-based type selected as the Sentry's successor.
