The Royal Air Force has officially revealed its first Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, marked with the new RAF livery.
Designated WT001, the aircraft has been painted in the colours of No. VIII Squadron, which will operate the Wedgetail in service.
The RAF’s first Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft has received its new paint scheme. 🖌️
This milestone involved an extensive team, comprising personnel from the RAF, @Boeing & @DefenceES.
Full story: https://t.co/4TzgXkfIpf pic.twitter.com/IqATgyVI2o
— Royal Air Force (@RoyalAirForce) October 18, 2024
This milestone took place at Southend Airport, where the aircraft rolled out of the hangar showcasing its new look, including the emblem of NATO’s Airborne Early Warning & Control Force (NAEW&CF). The Wedgetail will play a role in NATO’s operations, enhancing air and maritime surveillance capabilities to protect Allied airspace.
The VIII Squadron badge displayed on the aircraft is a sheathed Arabian dagger known as a Jambiya, symbolising the squadron’s guardian duties. The RAF’s Wedgetail will be based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, joining the Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, both of which are built on the Boeing 737 Next Generation airframe. This allows the RAF to benefit from operational synergies between the two fleets. Wing Commander McDonnell, Officer Commanding VIII Squadron, expressed his enthusiasm, stating:
“Seeing the first UK Wedgetail, painted, with a visual representation of No. VIII Squadron’s history is an exciting moment in the journey towards operational capability for the squadron, for RAF Lossiemouth and the RAF.”
Once operational, the mission crew will use state-of-the-art systems to deliver multi-domain battle management, enabling the Wedgetail to direct both offensive and defensive forces while maintaining continuous surveillance. The aircraft will provide crucial support for the UK and NATO by significantly enhancing the combat capabilities and survivability of friendly forces in hostile environments.
very nice plane, but we would be better equipped if we had more than what we have already, just a thought.
Five would be better but with new drone based capabilities the force may be augmented. F35 can go along way to supplement the air picture as well. It’s as good as some of the smaller awacs on its own.
All of the E-7’s and P-8’s in one place is a bad idea.
Unfortunately it is impossible to justify the substantial cost of separate basing and maintenance facilities for just 3 x E-7s. Best we can hope for is that provision has been made for dispersal in the event of a high threat to RAF Lossiemouth.
Imagine losing all of your AWACS and MPA/Fixed wing ASW in one attack. Regardless of the costs, there needs to be redundancy.
Agreed, but the MOD presumably decided that the cost/risk balance didn’t justify a second operating base. Not much point in, for example, upgrading RAF Waddington as a E-7 base if there was then no money left to actually buy any aircraft.
Especially w/out the protection afforded by a robust GBAD capability. 🤔😳🤞
We have a very robust capability in land captor which would be deployed to air bases in a time of war, it’s not great at defeating ballistic missiles but there is no conventional ballistic missiles in range of RAF Lossimouth. Having fewer airbases also means less targets to defend with our limited numbers.
Yes it is not good putting all your eggs in one basket. By all means move them there for maintenance but not keep them all there.
Makes it easier to defend with limited GBAD. Dispersal is a disaster in the era of drones.
As I said to another guy the other day. Russia can’t accurately hit a tower block in its neighbour. It can’t achieve air superiority against a very limited Air force. Has lost more warships to a nation that doesn’t have a proper Navy. And people think it can somehow muster up the capability to mount a very long range precision strike against the UK and get through the whole of NATO without anyone noticing.
Good to see that sheathed dagger and ribbon either side the roundel flying again.
Pity such low numbers and I dont expect the SDR to recommend increased numbers