Pictured is a U.S. Air Force photo of an E-3 Sentry aircraft before taking off from Tinker AFB, Okla. on Apr. 6, 2023 on its way to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. as the first AWACS to retire.
The U.S. Air Force is looking into a buy of spare parts for the service’s Diminishing Manufacturing Sources Replacement of Avionics for Global Operations and Navigation (DRAGON) program for Boeing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.
Boeing is the contractor on DRAGON, a nearly decade-long $1 billion effort by the Air Force Sustainment Center at Tinker AFB, Okla. to upgrade AWACS cockpits.
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) is asking companies able to provide such spares for DRAGON submit white papers by Dec. 15th.
DRAGON “uses a systems approach to aid pilot awareness and alleviate task saturation in high technology flight and combat environments,” AFLCMC said. “The requirement to reduce aircraft separation and implement other Air Traffic Management procedures, while maintaining or improving safety standards, is met by using available aviation technology currently used in commercial and military aircraft. Essential technology elements of the new Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management environment are satellite-based navigation, increased use of data links for pilot/controller communication, and improved surveillance to enhance flight deck situational awareness. For the E-3 AWACS aircraft to operate in this new environment, replacement of 1970s vintage analog flight deck equipment with currently available modern digital avionics is required.”
“DRAGON also replaces existing E-3 AWACS avionics with commercial off the shelf avionics to maintain mission readiness being affected by significant Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) impacts and to reduce life-cycle costs by addressing the most significant existing DMSMS issues,” AFLCMC said.
The Air Force’s fiscal 2026 budget called for scrapping a buy of the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail to replace AWACS and to count on U.S. Navy E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft by Northrop Grumman, as the Air Force develops space-based air moving target indication. Yet, congressional appropriators have decided to sustain the Wedgetail effort.
DRAGON led to a reduction in the AWACS flight deck from four to three crew members “by eliminating the navigator position and incorporating a modern Flight Management System Suite with robust architecture,” including a modern flight management computer and large multi-function displays for flight and engine instruments, the Air Force has said.
The 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker operates the AWACS. Since 2023, the Air Force has retired 15 of the 31 aircraft in the service’s AWACS fleet in preparation for fielding the Wedgetail.
A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.