The Air Force in March proposed retiring 15 of the service’s 31 E-3s, also known as Airborne Warningand Control System, or AWACS, aircraft, as part of its fiscal 2023 budget. And last month, the service said it planned to start replacing some of the E-3 fleet with Boeing E-7 Wedgetails, currently flown by the Royal Australian Air Force.
But the first of those Wedgetails wouldn’t be delivered until 2027, and subcommittee chairwoman Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said that means it would be several years before significant numbers of Wedgetails would be available to support combatant commanders.
...
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., also pressed the Air Force on the budget’s planned reduction in the number of new Compass Calls it would buy. The service originally planned to end up with a fleet of 10 new Compass Calls to replace the aging and retiring EC-130H. So far, the Air Force has bought six of the Gulfstream G550 business jets it will transform into EC-37Bs, most recently in 2021.
...
“Six is too small,” [Lt. Gen. David Nahom, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for plans and programs] said. “If you take a couple away for training, maybe one or two away for maintenance, you’re not left with a lot for operational use — and there is a lot of use for those airplanes right now.”
...
service’s plans to stop buying more HH-60Ws after reaching 75 in 2023, a roughly one-third reduction from the 113 the service originally planned to buy...
Nahom said the Air Force wants to make sure the Guard and Reserve get their full complement of HH-60Ws from the 75 combat rescue helicopters the service now plans to buy. Air Force Reserve units, for example, would need them to help recover astronauts returning from space that splash down off Florida’s coast.
But the Air Force needs to consider what combat rescue will look like in a future contested environment, Nahom said.
“It’s likely not [going] to be in a Black Hawk-type helicopter"...
Nahom said the Air Force is still war gaming and conducting analyses to figure out what that future capability will be.
Duckworth asked if the Air Force has considered using other aircraft such as CV-22 Ospreys to conduct rescue operations and lessen the risk that might come from buying fewer HH-60Ws.