The Boeing 737 AEW&C is a state-of-the-art system providing powerful airborne surveillance, communications and battle management.

Since Project Wedgetail commenced in 1996, Boeing Defence Australia has played a key role in all aspects of the project, from concept definition through to the initial design activity, training, infrastructure development and logistics support.

Boeing Defence Australia’s key involvement is in the modification of four of the six aircraft at RAAF Base Amberley, west of Brisbane. The Wedgetail AEW&C modification program is the largest commercial-to-military aircraft modification ever undertaken in Australia and the first time a Boeing 737 aircraft has been converted into an AEW&C platform.

The first two Wedgetail aircraft were modified at Boeing’s facilities in Seattle, Washington and are in the final stages of customer type acceptance testing. The first of these two aircraft is due to be delivered to the RAAF in late November 2009.

The remaining four aircraft were delivered to RAAF Base Amberley between January 2006 and April 2007 for modification by Boeing Defence Australia. The first of the four was returned to the U.S. in January 2008, where it joined the first two aircraft modified in Seattle in the development, test and evaluation program. This aircraft returned to Amberley in April 2009 to support customer demonstrations and to enable completion of a configuration upgrade prior to delivery.

The second aircraft modified at Amberley is due to be delivered to the RAAF in November 2009 and will be one of the first two aircraft to enter service. The remaining three aircraft modified by Boeing Defence Australia will be delivered to the RAAF between March and September 2010.

The scale and complexity of the program positions Boeing Defence Australia as a regional leader in aircraft modifications. The program includes:

• Major structural modifications to the interior and exterior of the aircraft, including the removal of a large section of the fuselage—known as section 46—and its replacement with a reinforced section to enable the installation of the 3 tonne Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar
• Installation of the MESA radar on the top of the rear fuselage
• Installation, test and integration of the complex mission systems and consoles, which are used by the RAAF to monitor the images
• Modification of the fuel system including the addition of Aerial Refuelling and Fuel Jettison capabilities
• Component design and manufacture
• Logistics support
• Engineering support.

The Wedgetail AEW&C Modification Program is a highly advanced and complex development program and Boeing is using a number of new and advanced technologies in its execution. While some have been used elsewhere on other Australian projects, the way the technologies are used on Project Wedgetail are unique to Boeing and bring new capabilities to the Australian manufacturing and aerospace industries. 

These include state-of-the-art:

• digital design tools
• laser tracking systems to develop specialist ground support equipment
• cutting-edge IT systems for engineering and computer aided manufacturing
• 3D visualisation tools and paperless planning systems
• Boeing Lean manufacturing processes.

More information about the 737 AEW&C platform is available here on The Boeing Company website.