Santana, Sérgio Boeing E-3 Sentry

In June 1963, two operational commands of the US Air Force the Air Defense Command (ADC) and the Tactical Air Command (TAC) submitted a joint proposal for an airborne early warning and control system that was far superior to the existing costly and complex DEW Line. This network of warning radars installed on slow-flying aircraft, ground stations and ships to detect Soviet bomber formations was clearly incapable of detecting and surviving the new threat of nuclear missile attacks. The practical result of their proposal came in July 1970, when Boeing's 707-320B model was selected as the winner of a tender for this AEW & C system the E-3 Sentry was born. After its maiden flight on 6 February 1972, still under the designation EC-137D, the new aircraft was officially handed over to the United States Air Force (USAF) on 24 March 1977 as the E-3A, after demonstrating its unparalleled detection capabilities in European airspace, including tracking high-speed supersonic targets controlled by Warsaw Pact units. The Sentry achieved full operational capability in 1984 when the last of the 34 units ordered by the USAF was delivered. By this time, delivery to NATO's AEW&C forces had already begun, marking the start of its deployment in the air forces of countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia, France and the United Kingdom. Throughout its service life, the E-3 was indispensable to any major military operation undertaken by the countries that acquired it, thanks to its unique detection, command and control capabilities, and it was continuously upgraded to meet new threats until it finally received its last designation, E-3G. This book provides a complete history of the aircraft's development and service from its first mission to the most recent. Although the E-3 Sentry is now gradually being retired, it has set the standard for AEW&C missions. This detailed monograph on the aircraft and its service makes an important contribution to our knowledge of this crucial but sometimes overlooked area of military aviation.