{"id":26023,"date":"2022-03-29T13:54:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T13:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/29\/half-of-tinkers-e-3-airborne-surveillance-jets-would-be-cut-under-air-force-budget-proposal\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:50:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:50:01","slug":"half-of-tinkers-e-3-airborne-surveillance-jets-would-be-cut-under-air-force-budget-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/budget\/2022\/03\/29\/half-of-tinkers-e-3-airborne-surveillance-jets-would-be-cut-under-air-force-budget-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of Tinker\u2019s E-3 airborne surveillance jets would be cut under Air Force budget proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma could soon bid farewell to its E-3 Sentry airborne target tracking jets that have been a fixture there for 45 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the Air Force\u2019s fiscal 2023 budget request, released Monday, the Airborne Warning and Control System would phase out over the next few years to make way for Boeing\u2019s E-7 Wedgetail as its likely replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The E-3 AWACS is a modified 1970s-era airliner that uses a distinctive rotating radar dome to track air war movements up to 250 miles away and to direct planes in combat, such as telling fighter jets to intercept a hostile target. They have been active over Europe to monitor the region\u2019s airspace during Russia\u2019s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\t