In the quest for decision superiority through multidomain awareness and information dominance, the airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft is emerging as a vital cog in a layered system of systems.
Likened to a quarterback in the battlespace—identifying, calling, and directing plays from behind the offensive line—an AEW&C platform’s active and passive sensors provide long-range detection and identification of potential targets in the air, on land and at sea.
Until recently, however, the capability was not high on the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) procurement list.
The first public sighting occurred this spring when the Canadian government’s long awaited defence policy update landed on April 8, 2024. Among the many commitments was a pledge to acquire AEW&C aircraft able to “detect aircraft and missiles at long ranges in real time and from much further away than ground-based radars, and then manage the battle space in response to a threat.”
As part of Canada’s contribution to NORAD and NATO defence, government stated that AEW&C “will vastly improve the [RCAF]’s ability to detect, track and prioritize airborne threats sooner, respond faster, and better coordinate our response with the United States when required.”
A week earlier, at a defence outlook for industry, the Air Force signaled its interest in a rapidly deployable “advanced airborne command, control, communications, and surveillance platform … to counter current, and future airborne and surface threats in defence of Canada.” The project, it noted, was in the very early identification phase of the defence acquisition process.
In recognition of the sensing capacity of an AEW&C platform, the project is being led by the NORAD Continental Defence Modernization Office (NCDMO), rather than the Director General, Air and Space Force Development (DGASFD), “because it’s more about sensors then it is about the aircraft,” MGen Chris McKenna, then the DGASFD, told a conference hosted by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute in May.
While the AEW&C was not included in the government’s $38 billion plan to modernize NORAD, announced in June 2022, “the Airborne Early Warning and Control project will play an important role in continental defence,” an RCAF spokesperson explained.
“The [NCDMO] is leading the project because the AEW&C capability will be part of a system of systems that enables the RCAF to deliver air effects in support of continental defence, as well as deployed operations. As such, it is complementary to the NORAD modernization capabilities and from the RCAF perspective, it made sense to include it under NCDMO.”
The government has earmarked $7.556 billion for the project over 20 years, out to 2043-44, to include aircraft acquisition, operational costs, and initial in-service support. While the strategic level capability requirements are still being developed, including the quantity, the first aircraft is expected to enter service in the late 2030s.
EARLY ENGAGEMENT
For defence analysts who followed closely the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA) project, the acquisition of an AEW&C platform has shades of déjà vu. In November 2023, the government closed a US$5.9 billion deal with the U.S. government to acquire up to 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, ending a vociferous campaign by Bombardier to build an aircraft in Canada to replace the rapidly aging fleet of 14 CP-140 Auroras.
An AEW&C campaign could see both companies square off once again.
If Bombardier came to the table for CMMA with a paper proposal, it is far better positioned on AEW&C. Over 500 of its business jets have been converted to special mission aircraft, and 11—soon to be 13—are active today in an AEW&C configuration, including the Saab GlobalEye.
The GlobalEye is based on a Bombardier Global 6500 while the E-11A, the first of which was delivered in September 2022, is built on the Global 6000. More recently, in December 2023, the U.S. Army awarded Bombardier Defense a contract for one Global 6500 to support prototyping for its High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES), an aerial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platform equipped with deep sensing capabilities for multidomain operations. The project is led by systems integrator Sierra Nevada Corporation, and the agreement includes the option to acquire two more aircraft in the next three years. Northrop Gruman also opted for a Bombardier-based jet for the E-11A, a Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) aircraft for the U.S. Air Force that serves as a communications relay platform.
Furthermore, L3Harris Technologies announced in 2023 a teaming agreement with the ELTA Systems Group of Israel Aerospace Industries and Korean Air Lines to develop an AEW&C aircraft for the Republic of Korea’s Air Force, based on Bombardier’s Global 6500.
The breadth of Bombardier’s special mission capabilities is not well known, “because people don’t associate Bombardier with defense,” acknowledged Anne-Marie Thibaudeau, director of program capture, but “at our core, we offer quality products with our platforms, as well as modification services, engineering services, to really work with customers and develop that unique value proposition to meet their mission needs.”
Depending on the RCAF’s requirements, the company’s two most likely candidates for AEW&C would be the Saab GlobalEye and the L3Harris aircraft. Discussions are underway with both companies, she noted, and while it has yet to be determined who would lead a Canadian campaign, “it would make sense for [Saab and L3Harris] to take the lead” given their development of the respective AEW&C platforms.
However, while it would likely play a supporting role in a Canadian campaign, Bombardier isn’t waiting for that decision to begin promoting both aircraft. One of the key lessons from CMMA was early engagement.
“We’ve seen that it’s super important to engage early to showcase to the government and any customer what we can offer,” Thibaudeau told Skies in a recent interview. “Both [the Saab and L3Harris] AEW&C solutions are based on our Global 6500 platform. It’s a platform that’s very well suited for this type of mission. It has the range, it has the endurance, and the inherent performance characteristics that outperform the competition.”
The Global 6500 is a civil certified jet with a published environmental product declaration that Bombardier contends would deliver lower direct operating costs and less fuel emissions. It also has sufficient additional electrical power to handle the large sensor payload. “I think those are all pluses,” she said.
More than 1,000 are in operation, backed by “a very well integrated international supply chain” and global support network, meaning “Canada wouldn’t be an orphan fleet,” Thibaudeau noted. Moreover, both L3Harris and Saab have substantial footprints in Canada and internationally.
Whether a Bombardier-based aircraft is as “interchangeable” with Five Eyes allies such as the U.S., U.K. and Australia as its likely competitors, the GlobalEye will soon be flying for Sweden, a new NATO member, and either the Saab or L3Harris platform could be the solution for Korea, a key ally in the Indo-Pacific. And both aircraft could be contenders for a French AEW&C platform. (Saab delivered the fourth of five GlobalEyes to the United Arab Emirates in April.)
The RCAF has yet to provide its high-level mandatory requirements, but Thibaudeau dismissed suggestions a business jet might be too small for the mission. She noted the decreasing size and weight of sensor systems and other mission equipment, including operating stations, suits a smaller aircraft.
“I think there’s a lot of counter messaging around our cabin volume,” she said. “When you walk through it, it’s a full standard cabin size; there’s plenty of room to have comfortable seating for operators. We’ll work with the Canadian government, depending on their final requirements, to configure the right number of seats for their mission needs.”
“The trend now for a lot of our customers [is moving] into the smaller business jet type platforms,” she added, “because the payloads have become optimized. With the business jet, not only do you get enhanced performance characteristics, but you also get lower operating costs, so it becomes an economically responsible choice.”
Bombardier was disappointed not to be able to show the RCAF and Canadian government what it could build for the multi-mission aircraft project, but with the accelerated timelines, its proposal “may have come too late in the game,” Thibaudeau observed.
“So that’s what we’re trying to avoid with AEW&C. We are taking this very seriously within Bombardier. This is an important campaign for us, especially in our own country. We are putting the efforts required to actively work with both of our customers, in this case, but also promote our capabilities to the government.”
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS?
Like Bombardier, Boeing, too, learned lessons from its CMMA campaign. In fact, it’s AEW&C pitch may look similar to its P-8A Poseidon proposal.
“It’s not lost on me … that we faced headwinds with Bombardier,” Bernd Peters, vice president of business development and strategy, acknowledged to defence media in June in St. Louis, Mo.
“There were a lot of political considerations tied to the P-8 procurement. But at the end of the day, giving the [Canadian government] the confidence that we are equally committed to Canadian industry was a discriminating factor for why they ultimately went with the P-8.
“As we look to potentially market the E-7 to them, I think industrial offsets and our plans for [in-service support will] be a key discriminator as well. We have the recipe for what worked for the P-8, and we’re hopeful we can continue our longstanding partnership with future capabilities as well.”
Dubbed the Wedgetail for its distinctive fin, the E-7A was originally designed and built for the Royal Australian Air Force. But like the P-8, it has been steadily growing a global presence. On Aug. 9, 2024, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) confirmed the order of its first E-7A battle management and command and control aircraft. The USAF selected the E-7 in 2022 to replace its fleet of E-3 Sentry AWACS (airborne warning and control system), which first entered service in 1977 and are plagued by parts obsolescence.
Closing a $2.56 billion deal with Boeing for two platforms, to be delivered in 2028, marked a milestone in the U.S. military’s vision of a battle network of connected sensors and shooters across multiple domains, and a key piece in its Combined All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) framework to deliver information and decision advantage to commanders.
“Its advanced multi-role electronically scanned array radar will enhance airborne battle management, providing improved situational awareness and enabling long-range kill chains with potential peer adversaries,” the Air Force said of the E-7A in a release announcing its agreement with Boeing.
The USAF intends to acquire 26 E-7As by 2032. The U.K has also acquired the platform to replace its E-3D Sentry fleet, signing a $1.98 billion deal with Boeing in March 2019 to purchase five Wedgetail aircraft. That quantity was subsequently downgraded to three, which will be operated by 8 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth, home of the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance fleet. NATO, too, through a competitive process, has opted for the E-7A to replace its E-3A AWACS, announcing in November 2023 that it would acquire six Wedgetails, with first delivery slated for 2031.
The E-7A is based on the Boeing 737-700 NG (next generation) commercial airframe, and shares about 86 percent parts and maintenance commonality with the P-8A, according to Boeing. Over 7,000 737NGs are in service, supported by more than 275 spares distribution centres worldwide.
The aircraft features a distinctive Northrop Grumman multi-role electronically scanned array (MESA) radar, providing 360-degree coverage, target detection, and integrated sensor data, and can extend the detection ranges of ground-based radars to maximize airspace coverage. It includes ballistic and electronic warfare self-protection and can be refueled midair. The spacious cabin has 10 dual-screen operator stations, as well as seating for eight additional crew to stretch out.
Critically, the E-7A is a central node in a contested operating environment in which connectivity and data are the keys to faster and better decision making, explained Kim Hicks, director of development, Boeing E-7 Program.
“When we understand that every environment that we operate in today is contested, then we begin to understand why multidomain, integration of data, battlespace awareness, and data sharing across every single domain is important now, and in the future,” she said, suggesting the airborne platform, working in concert with a space-based platform, could turn fragmented data into a holistic picture.
“When most of us think about the E-7, we think about long-range surveillance, sensing, detection, identification, targeting, and tracking—the ability to stare into the fight,” Hicks said. “But I think one of the overlooked advantages that the E-7 has is its ability to be used as a key CJADC2 node and its command-and-control capabilities. We want to use the E-7 to enhance every platform in the battlespace through beyond line-of-sight communication that supports battlespace awareness by integrating and sharing data with other operators and assets throughout the multidomain battle space; and by providing sensor data at ranges that enable early decision-making and preserves the tactical advantage.
“That level of multidomain communication and information sharing allows our military forces to have all of the right resources in the right place at the right time, and across every single domain. That type of coordination becomes a powerful deterrent, in and of itself.”
Moreover, Hicks noted that the E-7A and its mission systems will evolve as emerging technologies are integrated. The aircraft fits within a wider Boeing effort to invest in capabilities that “drive operational outcomes and that cut across platforms in areas such as multi-level security architecture, open mission systems, advanced beyond line-of-sight communications to support battlespace awareness, survivability and threat avoidance, artificial intelligence, machine learning integration, and manned-unmanned teaming.
“We’re designing the platform with the future in mind,” she said. “The E-7 has a mature and proven design for future growth through its open systems architecture, advanced processing, and communication networking.”
Once the AEW&C project shifts into its analysis of options, expect Bombardier and Boeing to announce Canadian industrial teams and release economic data on what their aircraft will contribute to the national and local economies. Both companies have gathered the lessons from their CMMA campaigns and will be employing those to the fullest as they argue why a modified commercial or business jet should be the platform of choice.