DISPATCHES NEWS FROM THE U.S. AND AROUND THE WORLD: Air Force Pressing for Rapid E-7A Production.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

AURORA, Colorado--Air Force officials are hoping to accelerate the production process for E-7A battle management and command and control aircraft, but it will be difficult to deliver the plane in fewer than 60 months, according to manufacturer Boeing.

The Air Force announced the award of a $1.2 billion "undefinitized contract action for the E-7A Rapid Prototype program" Feb. 28. According to the announcement, the first two airframes will begin production in fiscal year 2025, and the service intends to acquire 26 Wedgetails to replace the service's 31 aging E-3 Sentry aircraft.

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander of Pacific Air Forces, said the E-7A is his top modernization priority for the Pacific theater, "and I want it fast," he emphasized to reporters at the Air & Space Forces Association's Warfare Symposium.

He was preparing to visit Boeing "to talk to them about making the E-7 as fast as they can make them, because I want them very quickly," he said, adding that the aircraft is significantly more capable than the E-3, which is increasingly difficult to maintain and fly.

However, Boeing officials at the symposium told reporters there is little they can do to trim the plane's production time.

It starts with a two-year process to construct a 737-700NG, which serves as the base platform for the E-7, said Carson Elmore, business development for Boeing's international E-7 Program. "We put 800 wings on it" to increase lift capacity, then install CFM-56 engines and "we beef up the trucks underneath it, so we can carry that militarized weight," he said inside an E-7 simulator featuring a cockpit and five operations stations with screens simulating sensor feeds.

Then, Boeing spends two years chopping up the aircraft to install the electronics systems, including the signature "Wedgetail": the Northrop Grumman Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array, or MESA, sensor.

Rod Meranda, business development for Boeing's domestic and international E-7 program, said it may be possible to shorten the lead time needed to acquire parts and prep for production. "So, if we have that money in hand, you can cut off about six months," he said.

"The mod piece may be a few months there, but typically it's four years," he continued. Since the two aircraft beginning production will be the first E-7S for...