Boeing E-3 Sentry

The Boeing E-3 Sentry is a military aircraft. It is used as an airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft by the United States Air Force, NATO and three foreign operators: France, Saudi Arabia, and the UK. It is a military variant of the famous Boeing 707 airliner. It is classified as an Airborne Warning and Control System, or an AWACS for short.

Boeing E-3 Sentry
NATO Boeing E-3 Sentry in flight.
Role	AWACS aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Boeing
First flight	1976
Introduction	1977
Status	Active
Primary user	US Air Force
Number built	68 examples.

This kind of aircraft was used in the Gulf War, as well as in the War in Afghanistan.

The Boeing E-3 Sentry is used to watch the battlefield in the air and on the surface by tracking and observing them, then giving that information to military members on the same side. As such, they are considered very important by the air forces that use them.

The E-3 gets this data from to a big rotating radar that rises from its back. This radar allows it to detect enemy planes, while being out of range of enemy anti-air guns and missiles.

Boeing E-3 Sentry Media

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  The piston-engined EC-121 Warning Star, a military version of the Lockheed Constellation, saw service in the mid-1950s.

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  A welcome ceremony for the first E-3 aircraft at Tinker AFB in 1977

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  Close-up rotodome revolving at 6 revolutions per minute.

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  Air controllers aboard a US E-3 during Operation Provide Comfort

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  The command & comms consoles.

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  A Royal Air Force E-3 Sentry over North Yorkshire

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  NATO E-3s possess LX tail registration, as they are registered in Luxembourg. The chin bulge houses a suite of electronic warfare support measures.

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  A Sentry AEW1 of the RAF takes off

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  Boeing E-3F Sentry of the French Air and Space Force

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  Boeing E-3A Sentry of the NATO E-3A Component

References

• E-3 Sentry (AWACS), Archived, Tinker Air Force Base