The Pentagon Embraces Space-Based AWACS

The U.S. Defense Department is becoming more serious about moving into space missions that have long been associated with flagship airborne platforms, a shift that would upend more than 70 years of operations.

The Pentagon, in its latest budget request, has earmarked sizable funds to transfer the targeting mission from airborne platforms to space-based systems. To underline its intent, the Defense Department coupled the space investment plan with a proposal to cancel the U.S. Air Force’s procurement of 26 Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft.

• The proposed budget cancels the E-7 Wedgetail to focus on space
• The Space Force directs billions of dollars toward the Long-Range Kill Chain program with the NRO

The decision to move to on-orbit assets stems from “significant delays” to the E-7A program, a senior military official told reporters on June 26. The unit cost of the program has jumped more than 23%, to $724 million per aircraft, the official said.

But cost was only one factor. The official also cited “survivability concerns in a contested environment” with the Boeing 737-based platform, echoing the argument that the Pentagon made when it canceled the business-jet-class replacement for the Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Stars used for ground moving-target tracking. U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned that Chinese long-range air-to-air missiles and other military advances could pose considerable risk to high-value airborne platforms.

Air Force leaders had resisted plans to cancel the E-7A, which also would have taken over the battle management command-and-control mission from the Boeing E-3A aircraft that it was due to replace. The service only last year finalized a $2.56 billion contract with Boeing to convert two 737-700 aircraft into E-7A prototypes; the first flight of one should occur soon.

The Pentagon does not expect the space-based options to be ready until the 2030s, and perhaps even later, to migrate the associated battle management and command-and-control capabilities into space. As a gap-filler, the Defense Department plans to procure four of the Navy’s Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeyes from carriers for land-based operations, the official noted.

Shifting the air moving-target-indicator (AMTI) and ground moving-target-indicator (GMTI) missions to space also presents formidable physics challenges inherent in tracking such targets from great distances. But military officials believe they are making progress. Satellites equipped with synthetic aperture radar have been performing AMTI tasks in orbital demonstrations, Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said recently (AW&ST June 2-15, p. 17).

To help drive the mission shift, the Space Force’s $29 billion R&D spending request includes $6.4 billion to develop and demonstrate Long-Range Kill Chains. The effort is part of the service’s venture with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to develop GMTI-capable satellites to replace a portion of the Joint Stars fleet by 2030. Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of Space Operations, said on July 2 that the capability will be fielded in 2027-28. Officials have described space-based GMTI as a mission evolution that will be more survivable in a contested environment.

The NRO aims to review system requirements this fiscal year for the first block of planned space vehicles, budget documents show. The service is seeking $1 billion in “operational systems development” costs to continue fielding a space-based GMTI capability that could soon enter production.

The Pentagon says it plans to award firm fixed-price contracts built on “mature commercial technologies” to field satellites more quickly. It intends to continue other technology maturation efforts and select a vendor that would provide the second block of space vehicles.

The Space Force also designated about $14 million for ongoing R&D of space-based moving-target-indicator sensors and for related artificial intelligence and machine-learning models for autonomous classification and identification of moving targets among other technology development efforts.

The Space Development Agency also would contribute to the moving-target tracking mission under the proposed budget request, using about $88 million in R&D funds to develop and demonstrate a slew of space sensing technologies, including surface moving-target custody capabilities.

The endeavor still requires congressional sign-off—some legislators are committed to preserving the surveillance aircraft based locally—and it also hinges on congressional passage of the Trump administration’s signature reconciliation bill. Almost half the Space Force’s R&D spending plan for the coming fiscal year is tied to the passage of the reconciliation bill.

—With Brian Everstine and Steve Trimble in Washington