RAF Sentry transformation

The transformation process of the ex Royal Air Force E-3D Sentry AEW1 into an E-6B in-flight trainer has started. Naval Air System Command (NAVAIR) published some information on their social media account.

The aircraft, ex ZH104 (construction number 24112/1007), was already stored at Northrop Grumman's Lake Charles Maintenance and Modification Center (Lake Charles Airport, Louisiana) since January 2020. The outer mold line of the Boeing will be modified to resemble an E-6 and the aerial refueling probe and radar dome will be removed.

Once the maintenance and modification are complete, flight-testing is scheduled to start in early 2024. The aircraft will help reduce an estimated 600 flight hours and 2,400 landings/cycles per year from the E-6 mission aircraft.

The Naval Air System Command (NASC) will perform flight training with the aircraft to relieve training hours of the E-6B flight hours. The B707-320 must be capable for in-flight refueling with the US Air Force boom system.

Currently, the US Navy conducts all initial and recurring E-6B pilot training flights in E-6B mission aircraft. These training flights expose mission aircraft to significant unnecessary wear-and-tear and negatively impact E-6B readiness and availability. Moreover, lack of a dedicated training aircraft increases the time required to train qualified aircrews needed to execute the E-6B mission.

The US Navy is using sixteen E-6Bs with the Commander Strategic Communications Wing (CSCW) 1, based at Tinker AFB (OK). The wing is operating three squadrons of E-6Bs, VQ-3 Ironman, VQ-4 Shadows and VQ-7 Roughnecks. VQ-3 keeps detachments at Travis AFB (CA) and Offut AFB (NB) while VQ-4 keeps a detachment at NAS Patuxent River (MD). The latter is assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20 Force.

Photo via Naval Air System Command