Boeing E-3D Sentry – ZH101, 8 Squadron RAF, Waddington 2022 1/200

InFlight 200 1/200 scale IFE3DRAF01: Boeing E-3D Sentry ZH101 of 8 Squadron RAF Waddington 2022. Nicknamed “Doc” after the seven dwarfs character. With fixed lowered undercarriage and display stand.

Length 9.25 inches Wingspan 8.75 inches

PLEASE NOTE: The circular radome is deliberately detached from the model and should be push fitted into place once the model has been removed from the box. No glue is required.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) has ended 30 years of operational use with its Boeing E-3D Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft (AWACS), having flown its last frontline sortie with the type in the Middle East on 30 July 2022. ZH101 was the first of the 7 RAF planes to be built and the last to be deployed on RAF operational duty. Conducted from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, the final operational mission was flown in support of Operation Shader; the UKs contribution to coalition activities to counter Daesh militants in Iraq and Syria.

The RAF E-3Ds were powered by CFM International CFM56 Turbofan engines. Following its introduction to service in 1991, the Sentry was deployed in support of the RAF involvement in the first Gulf War. The type also was committed to campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and the Balkans, during air defence of the UK, and in countering drug-smuggling in the Caribbean. Like its Shackletons (named after characters from The Magic Roundabout and The Herbs) 8 Squadrons E-3Ds all gained nicknames. This time, inspiration came from the Walt Disney seven dwarfs: ZH101 was Doc, ZH102 Dopey, ZH103 Happy, ZH104 Sleepy, ZH105 Sneezy, ZH106 Grumpy and ZH107 Bashful.

One of the services surplus E-3Ds has been acquired by the US Navy and two flying airframes have been sold to Chile. It is believed that ZH101 has also been acquired by them as a spares source. The Sentrys duties will from 2023 be assumed by three Boeing 737-based E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and command and control aircraft, to be based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.

The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) developed by Boeing as the prime contractor. Derived from the Boeing 707, it provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications, and is used by the United States Air Force (USAF), NATO, Royal Air Force (RAF), French Air Force and Royal Saudi Air Force. The E-3 is distinguished by the distinctive rotating radar dome above the fuselage. Production ended in 1992 after 68 aircraft were built.

In the mid-1960s, the USAF was seeking an aircraft to replace its piston-engined EC-121, which had seen service for over a decade. After issuing preliminary development contracts to three companies, the USAF picked Boeing to construct two airframes to test Westinghouse Electric’s and Hughes’s competing radars. Both radars used pulse-Doppler technology, with Westinghouse’s design emerging as the contract winner. Testing on the first production E-3 began in October 1975.

The first USAF E-3 was delivered in March 1977, and during the next seven years, a total of 34 aircraft were manufactured. NATO, as a single identity, also had eighteen aircraft manufactured, basing them in Germany. The E-3 was also sold to the United Kingdom (seven) and France (four) and Saudi Arabia (five, plus eight E-3 derived tanker aircraft). In 1991, by which time the last aircraft was delivered, E-3s participated in Operation Desert Storm, playing a crucial role of directing Coalition aircraft against the enemy. Throughout the aircraft’s service life, numerous upgrades were performed to enhance its capabilities. In 1996, Westinghouse Electric was acquired by Northrop before being renamed Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, which currently supports the E-3’s radar.