Images circulating online appear to show the destruction of a U.S. Air Force E-3G Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft following a reported Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
The aircraft, identified in open source reporting as belonging to the 552nd Air Control Wing, appears to have suffered severe damage concentrated around the rear fuselage, where the E-3’s radar dome and associated surveillance systems are housed. That section contains critical components of the aircraft’s AN/APY-2 radar, central to its airborne command and control role.
Second angle. pic.twitter.com/NUupdRkdm9
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 29, 2026
If confirmed, the loss would represent a notable hit to a high-value intelligence and battle management asset.
The aircraft
The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing, commonly referred to as AWACS. Based on the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-weather surveillance, command, control, and communications capabilities. The aircraft has been operated by the United States Air Force, NATO, France, Saudi Arabia and Chile, while the Royal Air Force retired its fleet in 2021. A total of 68 aircraft were built between 1977 and 1992.
The E-3’s primary role is to deliver real-time situational awareness and battle management. It supports joint and coalition operations by detecting, identifying and tracking airborne and maritime threats, while coordinating friendly forces. The aircraft can provide early warning of enemy activity and assist commanders in directing air operations, including interception, reconnaissance, airlift and close air support.
A defining feature of the E-3 is its rotating radar dome mounted above the fuselage. This system enables wide-area surveillance over land and sea, with the ability to detect targets at long range, including low-flying aircraft. Integrated identification systems help distinguish between friendly and hostile assets, while onboard computers process and display data to mission crews for operational decision-making.
The aircraft carries a flight crew of four and a mission crew typically ranging from 13 to 19 personnel. It is powered by four turbofan engines and has a maximum speed of around 460 knots, with a range of approximately 4,000 nautical miles. Endurance exceeds eight hours without refuelling, extending significantly with aerial refuelling or more efficient engine variants.
Donald must be wishing the war wasn’t won so soon as they might want to respond to this.
Now it begins. If this war is to continue as many experts predict, then the US will begin to lose many such assets.
If proof were needed, Iran can still deliver audiance when required. Sadly, the World is about to implode, and it could take our way of life with it.
Haven’t the Yanks pulled the plug on E7 Wedgetails as their satellites can do the job? Allegedly!
No E7s are back on the agenda,I think congress wouldn’t let them be cancelled,(open to correction of course)
That’s correct, they have committed to two UK built prototypes to keep correct on congressional mandates.
Proof of why only buying 3 wedgetails is estúpido.
You beat me to it.
No sign of sny movement there?
Unfortunately not mate, especially as we are flogging our remaining two radar arrays to build the US E7’s.
If ( massive if) the RAF get anymore down the road, then they will have to come from the US production line.
The elephant in the room here is the Russians who are allegedly supplying targeting information from their satellites to the Iranians. It could of course be just blind luck on the Iranians part, but if it was a precision strike the Russians were almost certainly involved.
Somewhat concerningly the RAAF has responded to a request by the UAE to deploy one of our E7s to Al Minhad to help coordinate defence against incoming cruise missiles and drones. It will be less vulnerable in the air than on the ground and if the Russians are supplying real time targeting data it could be a prime target to send a message to US allies about committing assets to the conflict.
The level of blind luck in hitting an high value very low numbers aircraft 400-500 miles away is pretty astonishing… it could be but it’s usually better to assume the likely option.
Agree The level of precision was remarkable it struck directly on the radome and obliterated it. So not only was the targeting info precise so too the weapon used.
So much for US invincibility. Fact is we are getting only a taste of what damage is being done to US assets and infrastructure more generally. Now little Rubio is even admitting that tolls in the Straits may be inevitable once this ‘victory’ is concluded. Some victory where the end result is far worse than what you started with. What a total disaster the aftermath of which many experts claim is being under-reported in its damage to the World economy too. Ot only oil and gas but helium vital to chip production and medical industry is under threat too.
It’s not just US ‘invincibility’ that this conflict is calling into question but the vulnerability of modern technological (especially Western) weapons where the cost and complexity effectively makes them irreplaceable in the timeframes of a modern conflict. In other words they can be destroyed faster than they can be built.
A commentator over on The War Zone made an interesting point that US involvement in WWII was just 45 months and in that time they built 300,000 aircraft. At current production rates it would be lucky to put together one AWACS replacement aircraft in that timeframe.
It highlights the need for hardening bases to protect existing assets – there is little or no room for attrition.
Doesn’t really require blind luck. What it required was the US being complacent. The planes had been in the same spot for a while and had been photographed in the spot. US own doctrine indicates they should be regularly moved and lessons clearly not learnt from Russia would have reinforced that need.
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I suppose its repayment in kind for US targeting data supplied to Ukraine.
One wonders what US public opinion will be when the inevitable coffins start coming back home, especially as this now looks certain to escalate into troops on the ground.
Isn’t there also a RAAF air tanker there as well as a C-17 ? Or were they only to get the E7 & support crew/gear into theatre?
From OSINT the Australian PM confirmed on 5 March that both an RAAF A330 MRTT and a C17 were sent to the Middle East (most likely earlier that week around 3-5 March) to potentially evacuate Australian citizens from the region. However there are no reports of any evacuations taking place.
On 6 March it was confirmed that an E7 Wedgetail and 85 personnel were sent in response to UAE request. This would have required another MRTT for personnel and potentially a second C17 for spares.
On 18 March the base was struck by an Iranian missile but there were no ADF casualties.
It is unclear if any RAAF assets apart from the Wedgetail remain in the Middle East although RAAF often rotate aircraft between Al Minhad, Al Dhafra and other locations across the Gulf.
That’ll buff out no problem.
T cut mate.
ROFL 😂
What weapons Mr Trump? I’m sure you told the world they didn’t have any.
P.S. Thanks for the tariffs, maybe be nice in the future and you’ll get more help.
America has become so f**king cocky that it thinks no one else even has the right to shoot back.
Imagine sticking such expensive irreplaceable planes out in the open just 400km from an active ballistic missile threat. Even the Russians were not that stupid. At these are the same clowns “preparing” for a war with China in the pacific. 🤦♂️
It’s the problem with the American military industrial complex. The solution to them of cheap ballistic missiles on airbases is a multi billion dollar system firing multi million dollar missiles.
The actual solution is a bit of 1940’s tech the basic protected aircraft hangar that can be built for a few tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands for larger planes
Yes the bizarre level of confidence that the US and many in the west have over handling china staggers me.. it’s a monster of resources and worse than that profound will and belief…
Like the British view of what Japan was capable of during WW2.
The British never underestimated the Japanese, they spent billions building defences for decades. But everything was stripped bear to defend against a mortal threat.
I think that’s a bit off the mark Jim, yes it was a region for Britain that was much neglected through necessity for first call on military equipment, but it is well documented about the racist infused negative attitude shown at all levels about the capability of Japan.
No doubt a lot of racism especially in the army, the Japanese displayed very similar racism towards western forces too. Plans were well laid out in 1938 to defend Malaya. Many become dismissive of Japan after its total failure to the Russians in 1939 who themselves were dismissed us to their failures against Finland. In part these attitudes were racist but also founded on reality. The Japanese army was not very good, the British Indian army was worse, the Japanese navy was excellent at the start but a paper tiger in any protracted conflict.
But the British government spent billions and decades to build the base in Singapore to defend against Japan so it was clearly not dismissive of the threat.
Billions?? Gimme a break.
Well it was a few quid under 12 million pounds which is the equivalent of 1.06 billions so he’s a bit out but it did spend the equivalent of 1 billion.
What’s this comment about the “British India Army” not being any good? Can you explain yourself a bit more on that comment? Was it an officer or soldier problem or a higher up problem?
I suppose its repayment in kind for US targeting data supplied to Ukraine.
One wonders what US public opinion will be when the inevitable coffins start coming back home, especially as this now looks certain to escalate into troops on the ground.
Hasn’t that always been the case? Their reputation for recklessness and carelessness isn’t exactly new
Russia were that stupid, they lost a lot of planes from the same stupidity.
It’s been alleged that the Iranians had help from Russian intelligence. We are in an era where long range missiles and much cheaper drones can potentially destroy billion dollar radar stations, large ships in port or at sea, and expensive aircraft on previously believed ‘safe’ air bases.
And……over at Lossimouth, the P8 fleet is lined up in neat rows like skittles.
Soon to be joined by the E7 fleet.
Two key defence capabilities in one location.
No GBAD whatsoever. No large HAS to take such a big plane, no revetments, no dispersal. No nothing.
And the same at Brize, with the AT & AAR fleets.
2 locations struck by surprise sees many of the UKs air capabilities wiped out at a stroke.
HMG MoD, WHAT are you doing about it?
Where are the questions in Parliament from MPs?
Where is the urgency?
Some of the new shaheeds/Gerants are satellite data linked
Hi Daniele, there is an article on GBAD today at RAF bases, seems they do all have a new RAF regiment operated GBAD system called rapid sentry, it’s been in operation for a while but kept secret for obvious reason.
Apparently it’s doing very well in the gulf currently in Iraq.
8km range using Thales LMM missile and may be interconnected with the 11 SAAB Giraffe radars we have.
But it’s strictly cruise missiles and drones
Hi Jim.
I’ve mentioned Rapid Sentry many times here.
It used operated by one squadron of the RAF Regiment, 34 Sqn, of 2 CUAS Wing.
They also have Orcus and Ninja EW jammer assets.
The rest of the Regiment is FP.
That’s not all the bases and the number procured is probably on the fingers of 2 hands.
Clearly this is a system they need to buy a lot of..LMM is a cheap missile we can produce a lot of them and they are seriously platform agnostic.. down to shoulder firing systems.
This country needs to have a plan for protection of all key infrastructure, military, power, healthcare and distribution.. because in a peer war Russia will shot at everything that matters.
Any talk of deployable Terrahawk 30mm units to complement the Rapid Sentry units?
But how many have we actually got and have we got them all deployed to the Gulf with the limited RAF Regiment or have we overcommitted our funding to buy and supply them to Ukraine and leaving ourselves wide open? At the very least we ought to have some form of lowcost protection against drones… I know you’re gonna laugh, but why not have “walls” of Fishing nets with the heavy and smaller “lighter” stuff strung between a rising barrier that’s in a trench when planes are being moved about or taxiing out. I reckon we’d have to change startup to only being clear of the nets area, like on the taxiway proper, but it’s something short term defence wise. All it’ll need to do is take the first brunt and hoping by that time the GBAD would have spun up and vehicles deploying after the origin.
The urgency mate, the urgency will be addressed when the public finances can afford it….
Its 1938 and we have a bunch of incompetent clowns in charge, who think the biggest threat to the UK is climate change, god help us…
Here’s the thing, to listen to Hegseth and Trump, you’d think that the Iranians aren’t very good at fighting, but they’re not very good at backing down either.
The US has badly underestimated Iran.
They can quote all the stats they want but Iran is still firing ballistic missiles and launching drones at multiple targets every day.
In order to totally degrade Irans ability to launch attacks the US and Israel will need to be bombing for a long time
and spending down their stocks of ordinance.
The catch 22 is that without regime change, the US/Israel cannot win, and regime change looks unlikely.
Once a ceasefire happens the regime will just rebuild its losses, but will be emboldened having survived
a conflict with two of the worlds most powerful militaries. An Iranian nuke now is inevitable.
Iran will also have a new source of income from tolls for passage through the Straits of Hormuz.
Isn’t there a great risk now if USA and or Israel go in further and harder on Iran there could be a point prompting further Russian involvement? Hope UK/Europe keep their responses measured so no trip wire excuse for an enlarged conflict spreading from Ukraine across Europe and Scandinavia.
The US desperately needs to accept the help of Ukraine’s drone specialists but I think Trump it terminally stubborn to the point of destruction. That being said, if there is anyone who can ask for assistance without displaying any hint of humility or gratitude, then Trump’s your man.
By the way I have read a report that more than that particular aircraft was hit, but haven’t seen further confirmation so have to be a little wary, but we aren’t going to get much out of the US Govt as it doesn’t fit the narrative, as with other Iranian hits they have kept quiet. I will be interested to to see in time a true reflection of their losses. One thing is for sure China will already reflect upon the US paper tiger being ill equipped to defend Taiwan, despite Trump’s laughable hyperbole. But then his knowledge of events seems to rely on videos of Iranian targets (real or spoof) being obliterated supplied by Fox host Hegseth, to base his Goebbels commentary upon. It’s all becoming very Comical Donny.
5 KC135s were mooted to have been damaged! That’s as good as a kill really as damaged aircraft do not fly.
Simple really. American arrogance. I get the feeling if, just if, it kicks off in the Pacrim? China will wipe them out through sheer numbers and, like the Iranians, pure hatred.
The Chinese don’t hate the US. They don’t hate Anyone really, they despise the Japanese and hold a lot of resentment against them.
But they hyper nationalists and dedicated communists.. in a highly controlled society that does not allow people to descent and rewards dedication to the CCP..
This all means they are likely to fight very very hard and be far more willing to suffer than a western population.. infact they are taught that suffering will be required if China is to fulfill its destiny..
The who chinese paradigm of war can be summed up in “ break your opponent’s populations will to fight so destroying the political will of your enemies” essentially all the military might in the world is useless if the nation is unwilling to fight to the death.
Its going to be interesting to see how similar the Chinese mainlanders are compared to the Westernised Chinese diaspora around the world. I can’t see them being the same same. Nationalistic in a patriotic sense but not anti western and probably not wanting to live under the control of the CCCP.
At least they have some working AWAC’s we just have some nice planes with no fixed in service date for all 3 of them. Retire kit before its replacement is ready what a bright idea.
If the USAF want to replace the aircraft destroyed in Saudia Arabia, they could bring one of the E3s at Davies Monthan AB out of mothballs. There must be about half the original fleet there now (13+ out of 32?)). They did the same a year or two ago when they replaced a B52G lost in an incident. The big issue will be the standard of mission system inc radar. However, It will take many months to recover the mission systems to the ‘C’ standard which may count against such a proposition.
I did have a quick read up on this and the talking head view was not really possible, it’s vastly more complex to bring back something like an E3 than a B52 and they have essentially been stripping the decommissioned aircraft to keep working fleet going.. that’s before you get to mission systems redundancy.
What is really interesting is that within the MAGA base there has been a real rejection of this as fake news.. even that it was created by the BBC.