RARE
E3
Boeing E-3 Sentry (AWACS)
The AWACS
“The radar dish that controls the sky.”
Boeing · military
Length
152 ft 11 in
Wingspan
145 ft 9 in
Max speed
461 kts
Range
4,000+ nmi
Ceiling
29,000 ft
Engines
4x Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-100A
Crew
19
First flight
1975
In service
1977–present
Built
68
That giant rotating disk on top of a 707? That's the E-3 Sentry AWACS — Airborne Warning And Control System. It sees every aircraft within 250 miles and directs the entire air battle from 30,000 feet.
Fun fact
The E-3's radar can detect low-flying targets at over 250 miles — farther than ground-based radar can see due to Earth's curvature.
How to spot one
Giant rotating radar dome (rotodome) on top of a 707 fuselage. You cannot miss this aircraft.
Crews call it
The AWACS
Sounds like
Four TF33 engines — classic 707 sound, but with a 30-foot rotating radar dome on top
Related
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The AWACS from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook. Coming to iOS and Android.
Get Bogey