- quality handcrafted wooden model military airplanes -
- quality handcrafted
wooden model
military airplanes -
E-3 AWACS (Sentry) USAF
|
Scale 1:92 Length 18.5" Wingspan 16.5"
Photography by Action Asia Photo |
The E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications needed by commanders of US, NATO and other allied air defense forces (United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia and Japan). Engineering, test and evaluation began on the first E-3 Sentry in October 1975. In March 1977 the 552nd Airborne Warning and Control Wing received the first E-3s. The E-3 Sentry is a modified Boeing 707/320 commercial airframe with a rotating radar dome. The dome is 30 feet in diameter, six feet thick, and is held 14 feet above the fuselage by two struts. It contains a radar subsystem that permits surveillance from the Earth's surface up into the stratosphere, over land or water. The radar has a range of more than 250 miles for low-flying targets and farther for aerospace vehicles flying at medium to high altitudes. The radar combined with an identification friend or foe subsystem can look down to detect, identify and track enemy and friendly low-flying aircraft by eliminating ground clutter returns that confuse other radar systems. As proven in Operation Allied Force, it is the premier air battle command and control aircraft in the world today. During the 1990 to 1991 Operation Desert Storm, some 845 AWACS sorties were flown and NATO E-3s have also played a major role in the United Nations' enforcement of the no-fly zone over Bosnia and during the Kosovo crisis. Crew:
Flight crew of 4 plus mission crew of 13-19
Related Links |
||
© 2002-8 All Wood Wings - All Rights Reserved
