U.S. Cancels Vital E-7 ‘Flying Radar’ Program Needed to Track Chinese Stealth Planes

<p >U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth has confirmed that plans for the procurement of E-7 Wedgetail early warning and control (AEW&C) systems for the U.S. Air Force has been cancelled, bringing the future of the service’s support capabilities for long range engagements into serious question. I would file this entire discussion under difficult choices that we have to make. But you know, the E-7, in particular, is sort of late, more expensive and ‘gold plated,’” he stated when testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee.  “so filling the gap, and then shifting to space-based ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] is a portion of how we think we can do it best, considering all the challenges,” he added. It was subsequently confirmed that the much smaller E-2 Hawkeye, which currently serves in the U.S. Navy, was under consideration to serve as a stopgap measure until space based systems could fully perform the role previously assigned to AEW&Cs. Hegseth had just hours beforehand stated that the E-7was is an “example” of a platform that is “not survivable in the modern battlefield,” stressing that space-based assets would be able to fulfil the same role more effectively. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/12/article_684a2207106d76_07751905.jpg" title="E-3 Sentry AEW&C System"></p><p >Procurement of the E-7 has been considered particularly vital due to both the to growing obsolesce of the E-3 Sentry AEW&C system which the Air Force currently relies on, and to the considerable wear on the service’s E-3s which have resulted in very low availability rates and high operational costs. The cutting edge capabilities of China’s own new AEW&Cs, namely the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/kj500-flying-radar-america-hates" target="_blank">KJ-500</a> and <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-newly-unveiled-kj3000-flying-radar-bolster-counter-stealth" target="_blank">KJ-3000</a>, have further strengthened the consensus on the need for a more modern AEW&C capability. Commenting on the decision to procure the E-7 in late 2022, leading expert on Chinese next generation fighter programs, and author of the book <a href="https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Chinas-Stealth-Fighter-Hardback/p/50764">China's Stealth Fighter: The J-20 'Mighty Dragon' and the Growing Challenge to Western Air Dominance</a>, Abraham Abrams, observed: </p><p >“The KJ-500’s induction is thought to have influenced the USAF’s decision on how early to retire its very large but increasingly obsolete E-3 Sentry fleet and replace them with the modern E-7 Wedgetail – a technological equivalent to the new Chinese aircraft. The decision was finalised in 2023, after officials including [PACAF Commander] General [Kenneth] Wilsbach repeatedly stressed both the extreme limitations of the E-3 and the contrasting high sophistication of the latest Chinese AEW&Cs.”</p><p >Abrams further noted that American fighter units rely significantly more heavily on AEW&C support than their Chinese counterparts, due to Chinese fighters on average carrying much larger and more powerful radars. The F-35, for example, carries a radar approximately one third smaller than that of the F-15 and J-20, and approximately half the size of that of the J-16. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/12/article_684a222b702f75_08108730.png" title="F-35 Fifth Generation Fighter and Chinese J-XX Sixth Generation Fighter"></p><p >The decision to procure the E-7 was further influenced by the fast growing capabilities of Chinese fifth generation fighters, namely the J-20, which senior officers in the Air Force have specifically stated the E-3 is inadequate to track and support American operations against. General Wilsbach stated in March 2022 regarding the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/u-s-pacific-air-force-chief-evaluates-future-of-china-s-j-20-fighter-an-air-superiority-or-multirole-jet" target="_blank">first encounter</a> between F-35s and J-20s that E-3 Sentry AEW&Cs in the region were suffering obsolescence issues, implying that as a result that during the encounter: “our early warning aircraft could not see the J-20…. Those sensors that we rely on the E-3 aren’t really capable in the twenty-first-century, especially against a [stealth] platform like the J-20 or something similar to that. It just can’t see those platforms far enough out to be able to provide an advantage to the shooters… that’s why I would like to have the E-7.” The fact that the cancellation of plans to procure the E-7 occurs as China is <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/how-many-j20-stealth-fighter-will-china-build-top-expert-predicts-over-1000" target="_blank">rapidly expanding</a> its J-20 fleet with increasingly sophisticated variants, and is making <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/worlds-largest-fighter-plane-china-ultra-long-range-sixth-gen" target="_blank">considerable progress </a>towards fielding the world’s first sixth generation fighter, is expected to make the decision significantly more controversial. </p>