NATO announced Wednesday it has opted to buy six new E-7A Wedgetail surveillance planes built by U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing as the 31-nation military alliance looks to update its eyes in the sky in coming years.
NATO’s fleet of 14 Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, aircraft are outdated and expensive to maintain. But their large fuselage-mounted radar domes can detect aircraft hundreds of miles away and they remain useful to monitor Russia’s war on Ukraine from NATO’s eastern flank.
