The auditory rendition of this piece is provided through the Air & Space Forces Association, which venerates and assists our Airmen, Guardians, and their kin. Discover further details at afa.org
Following significant damage to an E-3 Sentry combat control aircraft during an Iranian assault on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, numerous inquiries arose regarding one of the Air Force’s most aged, modest, yet indispensable fleets. Specialists suggest the service possesses few remedies to address these concerns.
The Air Force has not yet formally acknowledged that the drone and missile strike on March 27 inflicted harm upon an E-3, however, Air & Space Forces Magazine had earlier verified the damage with individuals cognizant of the situation and examined a photograph depicting substantial destruction to an E-3 at the installation; fundamentally, its complete aft portion is ruined.
Subsequently, additional visuals have disseminated across social media showcasing the devastation. If the Air Force were to deem the aircraft completely irrecoverable, it would diminish an AWACS fleet already strained due to divestitures sending half the aircraft to the Boneyard several years prior. Nevertheless, endeavoring to refurbish the compromised plane using components from those decommissioned jets—or even reactivating a retired aircraft—presents a considerable challenge.
For the immediate future, alternative assets such as the Navy’s E-2D Hawkeye might bridge certain deficiencies, yet that aircraft’s objective and proficiencies diverge somewhat from the AWACS.
Air Force fighter planes and other battle aircraft conducting missions in Operation Epic Fury rely on the E-3 for command and control, as well as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance functionalities, serving as the aerial “strategist” to resolve conflicts and guide operations. However, this Boeing-manufactured aircraft originates from the “jet era” Boeing 707, initially introduced in the 1950s and operational since the late 1970s—implying the airframes are fatigued and numerous replacement components are no longer fabricated. The E-3’s mission-ready percentage—the frequency at which aircraft can execute at least one of their designated tasks—stood at 55.7 percent in 2024. The Air Force ceased public disclosure of MC percentages subsequent to 2024.
“According to the most recent information available to us, this fleet comprised 16 aircraft, with roughly half being operationally ready, placing me at a count of eight to nine,” Philip Sheers, an affiliated researcher within the Center for a New American Security’s defense initiative, informed Air & Space Forces Magazine.
“Six have been assigned to the Middle East, and additionally, an unspecified quantity of E-3s are stationed in Alaska undertaking domestic protection assignments. Between these two distributions, the fleet is largely at its maximum operational level, thus it remains ambiguous to me what degree of adaptability exists to redeploy assets without substantially forsaking or jeopardizing other tactical or functional objectives.”
The majority of the surplus capability for the AWACS fleet was eliminated in 2023 and 2024, as the Air Force decommissioned 15 of its 31 aircraft. Authorities stated then that these retirements would enable maintenance personnel to concentrate their endeavors on enhancing the readiness of the surviving jets and integrating a greater volume of requisite replacement components into the infrastructure. The intention was to substitute the AWACS with the more contemporary E-7 Wedgetail, an airplane derived from the Boeing 737.
Congress assented to these reductions, yet included provisions within the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act precluding the Air Force from decommissioning any E-3 that would cause the fleet’s numerical strength to fall beneath 16 airframes until the service commenced acquisition of the E-7.
The Air Force officially granted a pact to Boeing for experimental E-7s in 2024. However, subsequently, Pentagon command endeavored to terminate the initiative in the 2026 budget and expressed endorsement for a greater dependence on orbital systems—a capacity not yet operationalized.
To the Boneyard?
Presently, 18 E-3s are “stored” with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., an Air Force representative verified. The AMARG, frequently dubbed the “Boneyard,” accommodates hundreds of aircraft in diverse conditions—some are preserved for potential reactivation, others are consistently dismantled for replacement components, while the remainder are merely retained in repose.
The condition of the E-3s at that location remains unverified. The Air Force representative informed Air & Space Forces Magazine that the service “does not divulge further particulars concerning the state of those planes.”
The AMARG, however, does periodically publish public inventory figures, with its most recent data from March 2025 indicating that the 18 E-3s are situated in zones 23, 25, and 26. An unofficial online platform, the AMARC Experience, which meticulously monitors data regarding the Boneyard, characterizes these zones as locations where aircraft are typically found in “diverse conditions of entirety,” as they undergo a recovery operation to retrieve vital replacement components.
A portion of those components and constructs could hypothetically be merged with what is recovered from the E-damaged during the Saudi assault.
“Despite its destruction, a considerable amount of that apparatus remains serviceable,” an active Air Force airborne mission controller who operated on an E-3 team disclosed to Air & Space Forces Magazine. “Observing its images, the aircraft’s entire forward section seems intact. The paramount items we would seek to utilize are the powerplants, provided any endured.”
The airborne mission controller further remarked that it would be “rational for the service to extract replacement elements from some of the E-3s housed at the Boneyard and integrate them with the segments of the E-3 that withstood the assault, assuming such an action proves economically viable.”
Sheers, nevertheless, forewarned that undertaking this would pose a difficulty, given that the E-3 compromised at Prince Sultan seems to have sustained impact close to its unique radar, which is arduous to substitute.
“I am uncertain of what is achievable within the Boneyard, but those radar systems are exceptionally delicate,” he stated. “That represents an immensely demanding undertaking.”
Such an endeavor would also probably entail an extended duration—and even should it succeed, the advantages might not justify the effort, Sheers contended.
“I question the efficacy of retrieving an obsolete radar and reassigning its function, even if feasible, as a current operational challenge confronting the ABM fleet involves discerning and distinguishing low-altitude targets from ambient ground topography and other ambient entities, a task less efficiently managed by antiquated radar systems,” Sheers articulated.
Other Options
An ABM aircraft deemed more appropriate for discerning low-altitude targets is the E-7. The Royal Australian Air Force stands as the sole service globally possessing an active Wedgetail, and it dispatched one of these aircraft to the Gulf area in early March at the behest of its partners there.
Nevertheless, the Australian administration declared on March 12 that the deployment was solely for an introductory span of four weeks, and its objective in that locale centers on safeguarding against Iranian incursions, rather than aiding in the orchestration of the U.S.-Israeli operation.
The British have commissioned E-7s, but they have not yet formally taken delivery of any aircraft.
Boeing continues to refine the pre-production airframe destined for the U.S. Air Force.
For the immediate future, the Navy’s E-2D Hawkeye airborne early warning plane might be reconfigured for more collaborative operations to address part of the functional void left by the E-3’s absence, Sheers noted.
Throughout Operation Rough Rider, the endeavor to prevent Yemen-based Houthi insurgents from assailing merchant vessels in the Red Sea, the “E-2 was instrumental in detecting approaching dangers and coordinating and managing counteractions,” Sheers stated.
However, the E-2 does not provide the full scope of functionalities found in an E-3. This propeller-driven plane accommodates five personnel, whereas the jet-powered E-3 typically has 17 or more, and its unrefueled operational radius is considerably more limited.
“The dilemma in overseeing the E-2 fleet in the future is that this aircraft and its team have … had their main role focused on safeguarding carrier battle groups,” Sheers explained. “So, how do we adjust its role if we envision the E-2 evolving into a versatile, multi-functional platform—what form will that take?”
Coping with Attrition
Since the commencement of Epic Fury, over 300 service members have been injured, as per U.S. authorities. Thirteen personnel have perished, including a serviceman at Prince Sultan Air Base during an earlier assault on the installation in early March. The U.S. has also sustained damage to approximately 20 aircraft throughout the aerial conflict.
Three F-15E Strike Eagles were downed by a Kuwaiti combat aircraft in a case of accidental targeting on March 2, Air & Space Forces Magazine had earlier reported. All personnel were rescued without harm. On March 12, a KC-135 Stratotanker went down in western Iraq, resulting in the deaths of all six Airmen on board. Another KC-135 sustained extensive harm to its rear section in the identical occurrence but made a secure landing. In a March 14 social media post, President Donald Trump seemed to corroborate that no fewer than one KC-135 was harmed while stationary by an Iranian assault on Saudi Arabia. No fewer than twelve MQ-9 Reaper drones have been destroyed during hostilities, with several of these destructions taking place when the planes were on the tarmac amidst Iranian missile barrages. A USAF F-35 Lightning II sustained harm above Iranian territory on March 19.
The attrition of aircraft serves as a stark revelation that the U.S. is lagging in its capacity to cope with even minimal losses without impacting mission efficacy, Sheers commented.
“From the perspective of attrition and restoration for our aerial contingent, I believe we are not yet close to our desired state,” Sheers articulated.
This article’s audio content is presented by the Air & Space Forces Association, an organization commending and aiding our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Discover further details at afa.org