Boeing rolls out second RAF E-7 Wedgetail in full livery

Boeing has finished painting the second E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft for the Royal Air Force, the manufacturer said. The jet, registered WT002, came out of the paint shop on 26 August in the low-visibility grey-white livery already carried by the RAF's first Wedgetail.

The aircraft, converted from a 737 airframe, first flew in July while still unpainted. Boeing has carried out the conversion and testing work at Birmingham with UK contractor STS Aviation Services. WT002 has since flown for the first time in its finished paint scheme, according to Boeing.

Markings on the jet include the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force crest below the cockpit windows and the insignia of the RAF's 8 Squadron on the tail. It also carries a subdued pink-and-blue fin flash and a low-visibility version of the RAF roundel, in line with other British surveillance aircraft.

The first RAF Wedgetail, WT001, is already based with 8 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, where it is going through final testing and evaluation. A third and final aircraft is still being converted at Birmingham.

When the RAF will declare initial operational capability for the E-7 fleet is still unclear. That milestone had been expected by the end of this year. It has already slipped once, from an earlier target set around the time of the 2019 contract award. The deal, originally valued at close to £2 billion, covered five aircraft at first before being cut back to three.

Once operational, the Wedgetail is meant to fill a gap in the UK's fixed-wing airborne early warning capability.