RAF awards Boeing £127m E-7 sustainment contract as first aircraft nears service

Boeing Defence UK has been awarded a £127.5 million contract to sustain the Royal Air Force’s future E-7 Wedgetail fleet as the first aircraft moves closer to handover and entry into service.

The contract will support approximately 180 jobs in Scotland, with between 60 and 80 new roles expected to be created alongside four additional apprenticeships.

It forms part of more than £240 million in RAF sustainment contracts awarded to Boeing Defence UK, including a separate £115.2 million, two-year extension covering the RAF’s nine P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft at RAF Lossiemouth.

Thom Breckenridge, managing director of Boeing Defence UK, said the company’s UK workforce would provide the sustainment and training needed to keep both fleets operationally ready.

“This work not only supports critical defence capabilities but also creates high-value UK jobs, nurtures a strong apprenticeship pipeline, and drives regional economic growth in Scotland,” he said.

First RAF Wedgetail approaches handover

The sustainment award comes as the first of the UK’s three E-7 Wedgetails enters the final stages of testing at RAF Lossiemouth.

Known as WT001, the aircraft arrived at the Scottish base on 21 May after completing earlier systems activation and elements of radar evaluation and calibration at Boscombe Down.

It is now undergoing final ground and flight testing before its formal transfer from Boeing to the RAF, where the fleet will be operated by VIII Squadron.

Speaking during a media briefing this week, fixed-wing director Ben Kelsey said the company had reinforced its existing Lossiemouth workforce with additional engineers and test personnel to support the final phase.

“The first E-7 was transited up to Lossiemouth back in May and is now undergoing the final stages of ground and flight testing,” Kelsey said. “We’ve got a dedicated, focused team up there now who certainly see the need to get that capability completed and handed over to the RAF and in use.”

Boeing already employs more than 200 people at Lossiemouth supporting the P-8 Poseidon fleet, providing maintenance, technical services, training and supply chain support.

The two aircraft are both based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation family, allowing elements of their infrastructure, engineering expertise and sustainment arrangements to be shared.

Second E-7 completes first post-conversion flight

Progress is also being made on the second aircraft, WT002, which completed its first functional check flight following conversion in Birmingham on 15 July.

Images released following the flight showed the aircraft in green primer, with its RAF livery still to be applied. It will enter the programme’s test and evaluation phase after painting.

The third and final UK aircraft remains in conversion at Birmingham Airport.

The RAF’s three Wedgetails will restore a sovereign airborne early warning and control capability that has been absent since the E-3D Sentry fleet was retired in 2021.

Equipped with a fixed multi-role electronically scanned array radar above its modified 737 fuselage, the E-7 can detect and track airborne and maritime targets while coordinating fighter, tanker and intelligence aircraft across a wider operation.

The first aircraft is still scheduled to enter RAF service during 2026, although Boeing has not provided a date for its handover.

The new contract means the sustainment workforce will be in place as the programme moves from aircraft conversion and testing into operational service at Lossiemouth.