Boeing’s $724 million radar plane lives on, despite Pentagon efforts to kill it

The aircraft is also behind schedule. Its cost has ballooned. Some military officials have said newer technologies could do much of the same job within the next decade.

The Boeing-built plane’s shaky standing led the Pentagon earlier this year to say it would cancel the purchase of two prototype E-7 Wedgetail jets. The price tag had climbed to $724 million per aircraft, up from around $588 million in the program’s early stages.

The contract looked doomed—until Congress stepped in. The $901 billion defense policy package enacted this month blocks the Pentagon from ending its Wedgetail contract. Senate lawmakers this year lined up $847 million in additional funding for the two prototypes, though the program’s long-term future remains uncertain.

The Wedgetail’s turbulent history illustrates the challenges Western military leaders face in trying to keep complex weapons contracts on track, while freeing up resources for other technologies.

The tab to upgrade America’s land-based nuclear missile arsenal under the Sentinel project has nearly doubled to more than $141 billion, partly because of steep construction costs for new missile silos still on the drawing board. Delays and cost increases at U.S. shipyards have driven the Navy to scale back and cancel some construction contracts.

Before Congress restored funding for the E-7 Wedgetail program, Pentagon leaders argued it would be more cost-efficient to focus on existing surveillance fleets while space-based technologies are developed.

“If we have systems and platforms that are not survivable in the modern battlefield, or they don’t give us an advantage in a future fight, we have to make the tough decisions right now," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a June House committee hearing. “The E-7 is an example of that."

Hegseth said space-based technologies will soon surpass some existing airborne capabilities.

A Boeing spokesman referred questions about the program’s cost to the Air Force. Steve Parker, the head of Boeing’s defense and space business, has said the U.S. will in the long run need a balance between airborne and orbital technologies.

“I don’t see this as a budget issue," Parker said at a November industry event.

Eyes in the sky

Sporting a rectangular radar array from Northrop Grumman attached to its roof, the Wedgetail has the ability to scan the air for potentially hostile aircraft. It can relay details about enemy positions and missiles to friendly aircraft and weapons systems on the ground.

Boeing began designing the plane at the turn of the century, adapting its 737 NG commercial jet for military use. Boeing pitched the new design as a straightforward upgrade to the smaller E-3 Sentry planes that have patrolled the skies since the Cold War.

Australia’s air force was the first customer for the Wedgetail a quarter-century ago. Software problems and other snags at first delayed deliveries, though the Australian government later brought costs under control and had a full fleet by 2015. A government audit reported a base cost of $3 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to about $2 billion, to acquire six Wedgetail jets.

Over the past decade, Australia has used its Wedgetails in training exercises with U.S. jets, searching the Indian Ocean for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and patrolling the skies around Eastern Europe.

Boeing has delivered 14 finished Wedgetails to customers in Australia, South Korea and Turkey.

The U.S. Air Force in 2024 agreed to a $2.6 billion contract for two prototype Wedgetail aircraft. It changed course in June and announced plans to cancel the contract, citing the project’s significant delays and cost increases.

Senate appropriators responded in July with a bill to preserve Wedgetail funding, arguing that ending the program would leave the Air Force too reliant on still-nascent satellite technology and diminish early warning and control capabilities. Lawmakers also recognized the project’s “affordability concerns" and ordered the Air Force to present a plan to streamline requirements and control costs.

An Air Force spokesman said it would comply with the defense policy law Congress passed this month. U.S. officials have said they can save money by shipping two unfinished 737 air frames to the U.K., where they will be outfitted with military gear before flying back to America for final touches. The Air Force said that arrangement will take advantage of the U.K.’s previous experience working on the jets.

Scanning the field

Some former U.S. officials argue that the U.S. should change course. The Navy fields a fleet of Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye surveillance planes, which are already in service but have a shorter range and lack the cabin space for long airborne missions.

The Wedgetail’s larger cabin offers some advantages over the Sentry and Hawkeye. It features more advanced radar technology, fits 10 mission consoles and can stay aloft longer than older models.

Other countries are having second thoughts on the Wedgetail. The Dutch military earlier this year said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would scrap plans to buy six E-7 jets and instead search for other aircraft that could do the job.

U.K. officials have scaled back plans to buy five Wedgetails and will instead field three. Australia plans to retrofit its own Wedgetail fleet to keep up with the times.

U.S. military officials say the need to replace decades-old Sentry jets hasn’t changed. The nearly 50-year old surveillance planes are often grounded. Replacement parts are expensive and in short supply.

“You can’t expect to fly them forever," said Glen VanHerck, a former Air Force general and commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad, who retired in 2024. “They were not meeting my mission requirements when I retired, and they will only get worse in the future."

Write to Drew FitzGerald at andrew.fitzgerald@wsj.com