E-3 Sentry AWACS

The E-3 Sentry, built on a Boeing 707 airframe, provides all-weather surveillance, command, control, and communications for tactical and air-defense forces. Its distinctive rotating radome houses the AN/APY-1/2 radar, capable of detecting and tracking airborne targets hundreds of miles away.

Developed in the late 1970s, the fleet is being divested by the U.S. Air Force as the E-7A Wedgetail enters service to replace its command-and-control mission with a modernized, 737-based platform.

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