The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $398 million form-fixed-price contract to the Boeing Company for upgrading the Royal Saudi Air Force’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The contract, which involves 100% Foreign Military Sales (FMS), is part of Phase 2 of the AWACS Modernization Program, to keep the RSAF E-3 AWACS fleet interoperable with the U.S. Air Force and functionally viable through expected end of life in 2040. Boeing will perform work on the RSAF’s AWACS fleet at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA. The upgrade is expected to be completed by February 21, 2026.
The E-3 AWACS (see the figure) features a look-down radar with a 360° view of the horizon and a detection range of 250 miles (375.5 km) from all altitudes. It can detect and track targets in the air and at sea simultaneously and can differentiate friendly and threat aircraft even flying at low altitudes by eliminating ground clutter returns. The AWACS is based on a modified Boeing 707/320 aircraft, designed to perform simultaneous surveillance, target detection, and target tracking. It features a large rotating radar dome antenna 30 ft. (9.1 m) in diameter.