Doing More Than It Says On The Tin

Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft can do much more than their acronym suggests. The increasing ability of these platforms to perform land and sea surveillance is making them evermore attractive to potential customers in the Asia-Pacific.

- Alan Warnes

Several nations in the Asia-Pacific have ramped up their AEW procurements over the past decade. Once nations in the region tended to rely on the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye AEW family, but now Japan, the Republic of China and the Republic of Korea are looking for something with a bit more oomph. The E-2 family tends to be fine for local needs, but for more strategic AEW you want something bigger, and what better way to do that than use a business jet or airliner with lots of engine power directing its sensors across a noisy neighbour’s territory?

The US has made more AEW technology available to its allies in the region via the US government’s foreign military sales programme. While those nations that the US might not want to sell to, or customers not keen to acquire equipment covered by the US’ International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which restricts the export of some US military technologies, look to Israel, Russia, the People’s Republic of China and Sweden, whom are also trying to elbow their way further into the regions’ AEW market.

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