Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft are airborne radar systems designed to detect and track aircraft, missiles, ships and vehicles and provide command and control to direct friendly forces. Some operators, such as the Royal Air Force refer to such aircraft as Airborne early warning (AEW), while others reserve the shorter name for AEW aircraft lacking command and control facilities. [1]
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Operator | Aircraft | First flight | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Indian Air Force | Airbus A320 AEW&C [27] | TBD | 6 |
Italian Air Force [ citation needed ] | IAI Eitam | 2015 | 2 |
NATO [28] | Boeing E-7 Wedgetail | 2004 | 6 |
Russian Air Force [29] | Beriev A-100 | 2017 | ? |
Royal Air Force [30] | Boeing E-7 Wedgetail | 2004 | 3 |
Swedish Air Force | Saab GlobalEye | 2018 | 3 |
Ukrainian Air Force [31] | Saab 340 AEW&C | 1994 | 2 |
United States Air Force [32] | Boeing E-7 Wedgetail | 2004 | 26 by 2032 |
Canada plans to acquire AWACS capability by 2045.[ citation needed ]
Pakistan's first Saab 2000 Erieye entered service on 29 December 2009. A second example followed in April with 2 more to follow by year's end.