RAF Wedgetail order

[Jeff]

STS Aviation Services selected for RAF Wedgetail conversion

Five former civil Boeing 737NG aircraft will be stripped to their frames by Boeing and will then be converted to E-7A Wedgetail standard. Initially, it was planned that Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group (MADG) would perform the conversion part of this work, but since they withdrew Boeing had to select a new UK based partner for this.

On 20 May 2020, Boeing announced that UK branch of STS Aviation Group has been selected. The first Boeing 737 is expected to arrive at Birmingham airport in January 2021, where the conversion work will be conducted in the former Monarch Aircraft Engineering hangar.

Boeing also announced that the lead pair of Boeing 737NGs are already completely stripped and that the project will not suffer any delays due to the switch from MADG to STS. The first E-7A Wedgetail is planned to be delivered to the RAF in 2023, and the last one in 2026.

The UK Ministry of Defence signed a fixed, GBP 1.5 billion (USD 1.8 billion) contract in March 2019 to replace the RAF’s aged fleet of Boeing 707-based E-3D Sentrys, which are operated from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

[lordevanelpuss]

RAF’s aged fleet of Boeing 707-based E-3D Sentrys, which are operated from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

This has me wondering how old that the Avro Shackletons were before they were replaced by the E3 Sentry!

[gtf4j2m]

Shackleton - a collection of rivets flying in loose formation !!

I was on detachment to Sleswig with the German Navy F104G wing when a Shack landed, the Germans still thought we were operating Lancs. They had never seen a Shackleton.


Graham

GTF4J2M

[gtf4j2m]

The earliest Shackleton AEW.2 in the WL*** range first flew 1953 and were delivered as MR.2's. The later ones in the WR*** range first flew in 1954 They lasted until 1991 when the last one was retired. Over 30 years. The E-3's were delivered from late 1990 to 1991 so in service again for 30 years.

Graham

GTF4J2M

[lordevanelpuss]

What wouldn't I give to hear the sound of a Shackleton again. It'd almost give me goosebumps. It's hard to imagine that the E3s have seen 30 years of service!
I remember the RAE Farnborough Shackletons VP293 & WR972 flying around in the early 1970s. My late father was in 8 sqn in the 1950s when they were flying fast jets. In 1991 I asked him if he would like to visit his old squadron in Lossiemouth and see the last of the Shackletons. We were granted a visit as were quite a few other people on May 31st, so we flew up to Inverness from Heathrow on Dan Air's G-BKNH then a taxi across to Lossiemouth. We saw that last Shackleton sortie land and it was flown by WL747. Others present were WL756, 757 & WR963 Outside, while WL790 was languishing in a hanger. We were allowed on board one of the Shacks (I didn't note which one it was) I can imagine what a caving enthusiast on an expedition must go through clambering over those wing spars etc! A few years later we were at Fairford air tattoo where there was an E3 on static display, I told the crew outside that my father used to be in 8 sqn and unexpectedly they opened the barriers and let us on board. What a difference the inside of one of these is compared to the Shack, positively luxurious!