List of AEW&C aircraft operators

A US Navy E-2C Hawkeye over NAS Point Mugu.

Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft are airborne radar systems designed to detect and track aircraft, missiles, ships and vehicles and provide command and control to direct friendly forces. Some operators, such as the Royal Air Force refer to such aircraft as Airborne early warning (AEW), while others reserve the shorter name for AEW aircraft lacking command and control facilities.^[1]

Present AEW&C operators

US Air Force Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS.

Mexican Air Force Embraer EMB-145.

Indian Air Force Beriev A-50 EL/W-2090 AEW&C

Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C built for the Pakistan Air Force.

Boeing E-767 of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force.

Operator	Aircraft	Unit(s)	Total
Royal Australian Air Force[2][3]	Boeing 737 AEW&C	No. 2 Squadron RAAF	6
Brazilian Air Force[2]	Embraer R-99A	6th Aviation Group	5
Chilean Air Force[2]	Boeing 707-385C	10th Aviation Group	1[nb 1]
People's Liberation Army Air Force[2]	KJ-2000[4]	26th Air Division	4
People's Liberation Army Air Force	KJ-200		7+
People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force	KJ-200		3+
People's Liberation Army Air Force	KJ-500	26th Air Division	1+
People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force	KJ-500		2+
Egyptian Air Force[2]	Grumman E-2C Hawkeye	87th Squadron	8
French Air Force[2]	Boeing E-3F Sentry	00.036 Squadron	4
French Navy[2]	Grumman E-2C Hawkeye	4th Flotilla	3 or 4
Hellenic Air Force[2][5]	Embraer EMB-145H	380th Squadron	4
Indian Air Force[2]	Beriev A-50EI	No. 50 Squadron	3[nb 2]
Indian Air Force[2]	DRDO AEW&CS[8][nb 3]		3
Indian Navy	Kamov Ka-31 Helix B	INAS 339	14
Israeli Air Force	Gulfstream G550 CAEW	122nd Squadron	3[9]
Japan Air Self-Defense Force[2][10]	Boeing E-767	AEW Group	4[nb 4]
Japan Air Self-Defense Force[2][10]	Grumman E-2C Hawkeye	AEW Group	13
Korean People's Air Force[11]	Antonov An-24	Unknown	1
Republic of Korea Air Force	Boeing 737 AEW&C	5th Tactical Airlift Wing	4
Mexican Air Force[2]	Embraer 145AEW&C	501st Squadron	1
Mexican Air Force[2]	Embraer 145RS/GS	501st Squadron	2
NATO[2]	Boeing E-3A	NATO AEW&C FC	17
Pakistan Air Force[2][12][13][14]	Saab 2000 Erieye	No. 13 Squadron	4
Pakistan Air Force[2][12][13][13][15]	Shaanxi ZDK-03 K. Eagle	No. 4 Squadron	4
Russian Air Force[2][16]	Beriev A-50[17]	2457th AB SDRLO[nb 5]	16
Royal Saudi Air Force[2]	Boeing E-3A	18th Squadron	5
Republic of Singapore Air Force[2]	Gulfstream G550	111th Squadron	4[nb 6]
Swedish Air Force[2][19]	Saab S100B	17 Wing	6
Royal Thai Air Force	Saab S100B	702nd Squadron	2
Republic of China Air Force[2]	Grumman E-2T/K Hawkeye	2nd EW Squadron	6
Royal Air Force[2][20]	Boeing Sentry AEW.1	8/23/54 Squadrons	6
United States Air Force[2]	Boeing E-3B/C Sentry	3rd,18th & 552nd Wings	32
United States Navy[2]	Grumman E-2C-I/II Hawkeye	10+ squadrons	55
Turkish Air Force[21]	Boeing 737 AEW&C	3rd Main Jet Base Grp Cmd	3[nb 7]
United Arab Emirates Air Force[22][23]	Saab S100B		2

Future operators

Operator	Aircraft	Date	Total
Indian Air Force[2]	Ilyushin Il-76 A-50EI	2014	3
Aeronautica Militare	IAI Eitam	2015	2
Russian Air Force[24]	Beriev A-100	2017

Historical AEW operators

RCN Grumman Avenger Mk.3W2 on board HMCS Magnificent

Tupolev Tu-126

Operator	Aircraft	Date	Total
Soviet Air Forces	Antonov An-71[25]	1985–1991	3
British Royal Air Force	Avro Shackleton AEW.2[26][27]	1972–1991	12
United States Navy	Boeing PB-1W Flying Fortress	1946–1955	22
British Royal Air Force	British Aerospace Nimrod AEW3[28]	1982–1986	11
United States Navy & Marine Corps	Douglas A-1W Skyraider	1948–1967	417
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm	Douglas Skyraider AEW.I[29]	1951–1962	50
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm	Fairey Gannet AEW.3[30]	1959–1978	44
United States Navy	Grumman AF-2W Guardian[31]	1950–1957	154
United States Navy	Grumman TBM-3W Avenger[32]	1945–1950	40
French Aéronavale	Grumman TBM-3W Avenger	1952–1960	40
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force	Grumman TBM-3W Avenger	1954–1961	?
Netherlands Marine Luchtvaart Dienst	Grumman TBM-3W Avenger	1954–1960	24
Royal Canadian Navy	Grumman Avenger Mk.3W2[33]	1952–1959	8
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm	Grumman Avenger AEW	1951–1955	?
United States Navy	Grumman E-1 Tracer[34]	1961–1977	88
United States Air Force	Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star[35]	1954–1978	82
United States Navy	Lockheed WV-1/WV-2 Warning Star[36]	1954–1971	145
Soviet Air Forces	Tupolev Tu-126[37]	1965–1984	9
British Royal Air Force	Vickers Wellington[38][39]	1944–1945	2+

See also

• List of airborne early warning aircraft

Notes

Footnotes

1. Phalcon radar used.
2. EL/W-2090 radar, 2 of 3 delivered.^[6][7]
3. 1st test aircraft delivered 2012
4. One more aircraft on order.^[10]
5. Air Base of Long Range Radiolocation Detection Aircraft.^[16]
6. To be replaced by 4 Gulfstream G550.^[18]
7. The Turkish Air Force now has one operational AEW aircraft, plus three on order and two options.

Citations

1. John Pike (1957-03-01). "Airborne Early Warning". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
2. Air Forces Intelligence, Air Forces Monthly magazine, August 2008 issue, p. 91.
3. Blenkin, Max (13 July 2009). "Wedgetail on track for November delivery". WAtoday. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
4. Gordon, 2010, p.51
5. "Embraer EMB-145H AEW&C". Hellenic Air Force official website. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
6. "Indian air force gets Awacs plane". BBC News. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
7. "LIVEFIST: PHOTOS: The Second Phalcon AWACS (KW-3552) Before Its Flight To India!". Livefist.blogspot.com. 2010-03-31. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
8. Gordon, 2010, pp.51–52
9. "The Military Balance 2010". Page 256. International Institute for Strategic Studies, February 3, 2010.
10. "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 15 January 2007.
11. Bermudez, J. (April 2011). "MiG-29 in KPAF Service". The KPA Journal. 2 (4): 2.
12. Francis, Leithen. "Pakistan to get Chinese AEW&C aircraft this year". Flight International. flightglobal.com. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
13. "Pakistan Surmounts Sanctions To Revive Airpower". Defense News. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
14. Warnes, Alan (July 2010). "On The Edge". Air Forces Monthly. No. July 2010. United Kingdom: Key Publishing. p. 59. Retrieved 9 July 2010. Pakistan's first Saab 2000 Erieye entered service on 29 December 2009. A second example followed in April with 2 more to follow by year's end.
15. "`Karakoram Eagle` inducted into PAF". DawnNews.com (archives). Dawn Media. 13 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
16. Force Report: Russian Air Force, Air Forces Monthly magazine, July 2007 issue, p. 82.
17. Gordon, 2010, pp.19–60
18. "Singapore to Replace Hawkeye With G550 AEW". Defense Update. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
19. "S100B Argus Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft, Sweden". airforce-technology.com. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
20. Force Report: Royal Air Force at Ninthy, Air Forces Monthly magazine, April 2008 issue, p. 44.
21. "Boeing Delivers 1st Peace Eagle Aircraft to Turkish Armed Forces". Boeing.mediaroom.com. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
22. "Saab signs contract with United Arab Emirates for airborne surveillance system" (PDF). Feed.ne.cision.com. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
23. "UAE Buys Saab's Erieye AEW&C Aircraft". Defenseindustrydaily.com. 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
24. Butowski, Piotr. "Model Reveals A-100 Configuration". Air International, April 2014. Retrieved: 21 July 2014.
25. Gordon, 2010, pp.61–80
26. Hazell, 2004, pp.41
27. Jones, 2002, pp.135–160
28. Gunston, 2009, pp.117–129
29. Hazell, 2004, pp.32–35
30. Hazell, 2004, pp.32–36, 41
31. Kowalski, 1991, pp.1, 5, 13, 72
32. "Eastern TBM-3W Avenger". Historyofwar.org. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
33. Griffin, 1969, p.13
34. Sullivan, 1990, p.48
35. Winchester, 2001, pp.101 & 104
36. Winchester, 2001, pp.97–101 & 106
37. Gordon, 2010, pp.5–17
38. Air-Britain, Aviation World, 2004
39. Hodges, R "Air controlled interception" Radar Development to 1945 R W Burns (ed)

References

• Gibson, Chris (2011). The Admiralty and AEW: Royal Navy Airborne Early Warning Projects. Blue Envoy Press. ISBN 978-0956195128.
• Gordon, Yefim; Komissarov, Dmitriy (2010). Soviet/Russian AWACS Aircraft: Tu-126, A-50, An-71, Ka-31. Red Star Vol. 23. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1857802153.
• Gordon, Yefim; Davison, Peter (2006). Tupolev Tu-95 Bear. Warbird Tech. 43. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press. ISBN 978-1-58007-102-4.
• Gunston, Bill (2009). Nimrod the Centenarian Aircraft. Gloucestershire, Great Britain: Spellmount. ISBN 978-0752452708.
• Hazell, Steve (2004). Fairey Gannet. Warpaint Series No.23. Buckinghamshire, UK: Hall Park Books. ISSN 1363-0369.
• Jones, Barry (2002). Avro Shackleton. Crowood Aviation Series. Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press. ISBN 1861264496.
• Kowalski, Robert J. (1991). Grumman AF Guardian. Naval Fighters Number 20. Simi Valley, CA: Steve Ginter Publishing. ISBN 0942612205.
• Lake, Jon (February 2009). "Aircraft of the RAF – Part 10 Sentry AEW.1". Air International. Vol. 76 no. 2. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. pp. 44–47.
• Lloyd, Alwyn T. (1987). Boeing 707 and AWACS in detail and scale – D&S Vol. 23. Shrewsbury, UK: Aero Publishers. ISBN 978-0830685332.
• Sullivan, Jim (1990). S2F Tracker in Action. Aircraft in Action No. 100. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications. ISBN 978-0897472425.
• Winchester, Jim (2001). Lockheed Constellation. Classic Airliners. St Paul, MN: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0760311986.
• Eyes in the Skies – All the World's AWACS, Air Forces Monthly magazine, August 2008 issue.