A pivotal US Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The attack left over 10 service members injured, two of them seriously. Among other aircraft damaged are aerial refueling tankers.
Photos purportedly showing the damaged E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane have surfaced on social media.
Air & Space Forces Magazine reviewed an image that shows major damage to the plane at Prince Sultan Air Base. The image seemed to show one of the E-3s stationed at the Saudi base, based on runway signage and aircraft markings.
Open-source flight tracking data revealed that as many as six E-3s had been stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base before the incident. Previously, Air & Space Forces Magazine previously reported that a USAF E-3 and tankers were damaged in the March 27 Iranian attack.
Why the E-3 Sentry AWACS matters
The AWACS has in the past helped manage the battlefield in major conflicts. Since as early as the 1970s, the Air Force has flown AWACS planes to provide command and control and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. They were used in Operation Desert Storm, the Kosovo war, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the counter-Islamic State campaign known as Operation Inherent Resolve.
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The E-3 Sentry, which was developed in the United States, is one of the most widely used AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft in existence, according to The National Interest. It has since been exported to France, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia.
An ‘incredibly problematic’ loss
Airpower experts believe that the loss of this aircraft could hamper the Air Force’s ability to manage battlefields, as it was apparently being actively used in current operations. “The loss of this E-3 is incredibly problematic, given how crucial these battle managers are to everything from airspace deconfliction, aircraft deconfliction, targeting, and providing other lethal effects that the entire force needs for the battle space,” said Heather Penney, a former F-16 pilot and director of studies and research at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
According to experts, losing this plane could create gaps in the Air Force’s battlespace awareness and management. It could also lead to missed opportunities to target Iranian forces.
“It’s a significant loss for the war in the short term,” said Kelly Grieco, a defense policy expert and senior fellow at the Stimson Center. “That has a consequence. There are going to be coverage gaps.”
Penney explained that fighter pilots especially rely on the battlespace picture provided by the AWACS.
“The value of the E-3 and the battle managers is they see the big picture,” Penney said. “They’re the chessmaster, while [fighter pilots] are the bishops.”
Prince Sultan Air Base is one of the most important US military hubs in the Middle East. It hosts various aircraft supporting operations against Iran.
“It’s certainly not random,” Grieco said, adding that by attacking radars, communications sites, aircraft, and bases, Iran appears to be attempting to conduct an “asymmetric counter air campaign.”
“It seems like it is a deliberate campaign to go after the critical enablers of U.S. airpower,” Grieco said.
Pentagon leadership is skeptical about acquiring the proposed replacement for the E-3, the E-7 Wedgetail. Instead, it backs space-based systems.
“We’ve simply taken too much risk in the battle management career field, both with the battle managers and with the airframes,” Penney said. “Space will be an incredible capability, but it is not here today. And this is an example of how we don’t always get to pick the timelines of conflict, so we can’t wait for future capabilities that are not in the force today.”
“The E-7 is desperately needed to replace the E-3, and the strain that the loss of this E-3 will impose upon not just the career field, but the capabilities, the battle managers, and how that then ripples across the effectiveness in the entire force, underscores the need to accelerate the procurement and delivery of the E-7,” Penney added.
Penney also explained that the loss of this E-3 will place a greater burden on the remaining AWACS, potentially burning them out faster.
“It further strains the force, and because we have not invested in battle management aircraft for decades, we’re reaping what we sowed,” Penney said.
