French E-3F AWACS Photo credit: Vincent Guisiano, French Air Force Boeing delivered the first of the four upgraded Boeing E-3F Airborne W...
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| French E-3F AWACS Photo credit: Vincent Guisiano, French Air Force |
The Mid-Life Upgrade program is aimed to increase the French fleet’s surveillance, communications and battle management capabilities.
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The delivery followed ground and flight testing at Avord Air Force Base, France, and qualification by France’s Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA).
Modifications to the other three French AWACS aircraft are scheduled for completion by the third quarter of 2016.
The upgrade is based on the U.S. AWACS Block 40/45 system, which enhances network-enabled mission execution capability, reliability and effectiveness and reduces life-cycle costs.
The E-3F is based on a Boeing 707 commercial jetliner airframe, and provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications using the distinctive rotating radar dome above the fuselage and onboard mission consoles.
The $382 million upgrade is part of a Foreign Military Sale in 2010 between DGA and the U.S. government.
The upgrade will include, a primary AWACS display, which increases situational awareness through its intuitive interface and detailed map database, upgraded Identification Friend or Foe Interrogation including Mode S and Mode 5 capability, an increase in the number of mission consoles aboard each aircraft, from 10 to 14, modern mission computing processing, which enables improved AWACS mission performance through the use of advanced battle management tools.
Boeing is the prime contractor and provides hardware, software, engineering and quality assurance support.
The upgrade is carried out in France by Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance, a Boeing subcontractor on the project, is upgrading the electrical, mechanical and structural systems and mission hardware on the aircraft.
