I’m doubtful that this will pass, but here it is.
It can’t be about the money? Yes, AWACs aircraft are expensive, but that pales in comparison to the cost of satellite ISR.
Reading between the lines, it is basically about the USAF (potentially) putting all their ISR assets into space… Any number of issues with that, just off the top of my head:
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It isn’t just about the radar and C2 - the EW suite on an E7 does stuff that satellites can’t
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loss of flexibility with tasking
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a purely space based system relies on allies for satellite ground stations that aren’t in US territory (Trump cough, what allies Trump)
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and talk about putting all your eggs in one basket when ‘we’ know how much R&D potential (likely) adversaries have put into ASAT
So it isn’t just about the vulnerability of the platform either. If this was any other US administration I would be scratching my head over this… Now I’m thinking… Well Elon’s apologised (kinda? At the very least that has gone awfully quiet all of a sudden) and Space-X… Gotta keep those billionaires happy!
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Can the E-2 even handle the type of battlespace workload the E-3s would? It’s only got what, 3 operators in the back?
We shouldn’t assume much analysis behind this decision. It could just as easily be as mundane as this.
DJT: “Pete, yesterday my niece visited us at Mar-a-logo. She’s three and thinks I’m better than Jesus. Smart girl. She said, ‘Uncle Trump, we flew in a 7 thoity 7. Mommy says it’s a bad airplane and that you can make them go away. Can you uncle?’ Do something Pete. What about the 737 with the microwave oven on top we’re supposed to be buying? Kill that.”
Hegseth (flexing his bicep nazi tattoo): “Yes sir. Right away!”
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Completely plausible.
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That’s exactly how it must have gone down. These fokkers are a menace if only for how easy they are to predict.
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On the other hand, how has the P-8 worked out? I know that they have have completely different missions, but I wonder if it ever fulfilled its expectations? It certainly has been a sales success.
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As far as I know, its just fine and dandy. I haven’t read a peep of discontent with the airframe.
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Very, very well.
An old shipmate is an NFO on them, and a neighbor kid from my childhood neighbor flies them. Different squadrons.
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Different mission profile to the P3 - ‘Loiters’ up high where turbofans work better and only descends down to where the Orion operated to drop sonobuoys and torps… IIRC that is why we didn’t opt for the MAD detector?
I know quite a few P3 crew (but from motorcycle touring) and I haven’t heard anything negative from them. The three guys standing around the map are P3 navigators - we weren’t lost, just taking an unscheduled detour 
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It’s possible someone mentioned the Wedgetail is named for an Australian eagle and they balked at that… or that it was designed to meet a RAAF requirement (and no aircraft designed for a foreign requirement ever worked out at all coughP-51cough) 
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Only negative thing I heard about the P-8 from a family friend and P-8 squadron commander/pilot was that so much of their intraflight comms were text based through the CDU-thingy, which in his opinion harmed SA.
My dad was an avionics tech on the P-3 MAD boom way back in the '70s.
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The only negative report that I read was from 2014, critical of the new sonobuoy system, which was difficult to deploy, need skilled highly technicians to operate, but that still underperformed. I imagine that they’ve either solved that issue by now or moved on to a different technology.
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There’s a lot to be said for an old-school turboprop that can operate at 1-300’ ASL hunting submarines for hours and hours with two engines shut down, versus a 737 that lacks that kind of loiter, or the MAD. Hopefully we have other systems that fill in the gap and make the P-8 a good solution. Those who know won’t say, and those that say likely don’t know.
Cancelling the E-7 white retiring the E-3 is just dumb, unless there’s something we don’t know. The E-2 is just that, a carrier-borne solution that is the best package we can launch/recover on the flight deck. Trying to use it as an E-3 replacement is a scary thought.
Could be there’s an unmanned solution around the corner, which might make sense except in a jamming environment…
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The 737 at SL and 250 KIAS is good for about 8 hours with plenty of reserve. And probably a lot more at the weights they operate at. I’m not arguing that it’s a better platform ‘cause I am admittedly clueless. But if 8 hours is enough, plus 400+ to get to separate distant search areas, then I’d submit that they nixed a good airplane.
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As a clear member of the second category, let me say:
What use is your AWACS when it is so heavily jammed that you can’t communicate with it?
Addendum: (For a modern high-cost drone, it shouldn’t be that hard to navigate and aviate without GPS and radio connectivity.) I assume we’re not talking about consumer grade RC quad copters for an E-3 replacement.
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Some interesting commentary on the subject, which goes beyond the equipment’s capability.
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A couple of points to get off my chest first:
- Replacing the E-3 with space based ISR.
Yes you could (probably) easily replace the passive sensors on an E-3, E-7 or even an E-2 with a LEO swarm (but even though space is big it is getting awfully crowded up there). Active radar on the other hand. Without going into detail, space based radars are freaking huge, consume a shedload of power, and easily defended against due to predictable/known orbits and well established SATVUL countermeasures. Although I guess they could be tweaked to effectively track aircraft they are optimised for ground mapping and aren’t going to give you persistent coverage of an AO.
If you don’t have an airborne platform anymore, it is better than nothing but you have a fraction of the capability that costs a lot more.
- E-2 being more useful in a Taiwan Straight or South Pacific conflict because they can operate from austere airfields.
I don’t buy it. Any ‘USAF’ Hawkeye’s will be operating from established bases in Guam, South Korea or Japan. Also I am willing to bet that they don’t have the detection range of an E-3 or E-7, which makes them more vulnerable than either of those two platforms.
He does make a great point at the end though about how it ties in with the current administrations isolationism. Either that or once again, they don’t really have a clue because Trump has put a bunch of amateurs in charge and they are making it up as they go… I would have an each way bet on that.
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Good points 
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