Destruction of vital US radar aircraft could hamper ability to spot Iran threats, analysts say
By Brad Lendon, Isaac Yee, Thomas Bordeaux, CNN
(CNN) — The destruction of a US Air Force E-3 Sentry aircraft in an Iranian strike on a Saudi Arabia air base could damage US abilities to spot incoming Iranian threats at distance, analysts say.
Dramatic images of the wrecked aircraft, geolocated by CNN, show its tail broken off and its distinct rotating radar dome –– a critical part of the airborne warning and control system, or AWACS –– on the ground at the Prince Sultan Air Base.
The loss of the AWACS is “a serious blow to (US) surveillance capabilities,” said CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton, a former US Air Force colonel who has flown on the aircraft.
“It can potentially impact (US) ability to control combat aircraft and vector them to their targets or protect them from engagements of hostile aircraft and missile systems,” he said.
CNN has reached out to US Central Command for comment on the destruction of the aircraft.
The AWACS enables airborne monitoring of up to 120,000 square miles of battlespace from the ground to the stratosphere, and it has been a vital component of US fighting forces for decades. The fleet of 17 E-3s, and America’s experience using them over the years, is seen by analysts as a major advantage enjoyed by Washington.
Images of the destroyed aircraft began appearing on social media sites over the weekend. CNN geolocated the images to the air base in central Saudi Arabia by comparing them to a satellite image from March 11, which showed the E-3 aircraft at the same location in the recent photos.
CNN had previously reported that an attack on the air base left at least 10 US service members injured. No fatalities were reported. A US Air Force tanker aircraft was also damaged, sources said.
The E-3 aircraft itself is a powerful airborne command post as well as a surveillance platform.
It can track around 600 targets at one time, from other aircraft, to missiles, to large drones, even down to tanks on the battlefield.
Personnel aboard the E-3 can pass that info down to commanders in theater, to ships at sea or back to the Pentagon in real time.
Meanwhile, controllers aboard the AWACS can direct interceptor fighter jets to incoming threats or send attack aircraft to support ground troops under fire.
A report this month from the Center for a New American Security calls the AWACS the “quarterback” of the battlefield, “nimbly providing critical situational awareness and real-time coordination that turns individual sorties into a dominant force.”
The report calls AWACS “an indispensable asset for US military operations today and for the foreseeable future.”
Peter Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force officer and fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, said airborne radars exponentially increase the detection time of threats.
In the current conflict, an E-3 might see an incoming Iranian Shahed drone launched 200 miles away about 85 minutes sooner than ground-based radar, Layton said.
Because they are mobile, the AWACS can move quickly to new crisis areas and present are a harder target for adversaries than fixed ground-based radars.
Surprise aircraft was left vulnerable
Analysts on Monday questioned how the US allowed the E-3 to become vulnerable to Iranian attack.
“Extraordinary measures are often taken to protect it from hostile enemy fire while in-flight. Sometimes it receives fighter escorts and is never allowed to overfly hostile territory in order to keep it safe,” said Leighton.
He called the loss of the E-3 on the ground “a serious breach of our Force Protection efforts.”
Leighton also said the attack may indicate Iran is getting help in targeting key US assets.
“Russia most likely gave Iran geographic coordinates and satellite imagery that provided the precise location,” he said.
The attack shows how Iran is being selective in going after limited high-value targets with the forces it has, Kelly Grieco, a fellow at the Stimson Center, wrote on X.
She pointed to attacks at radar and satellite communications infrastructure on other US bases across the region since the war began.
“Iran’s going after the radars that detect threats, the tankers that keep jets flying, and the AWACS that direct the battle. That’s a counter-air campaign. Adapted to what Iran can actually do. And the damage is real,” Grieco wrote.
An aging asset
Analysts also noted the size and age of the US E-3 fleet and the strain that Middle East operations are putting on it.
The E-3 is in limited supply in the US fleet, only 17 on hand at the beginning of the year, according to FlightGlobal.com’s 2026 World Air Forces directory. That’s fewer AWACS than B-2 bombers (20).
And they are old. The first aircraft joined the Air Force fleet in 1978, and the US fleet has shrunk from 32 aircraft in 2015.
The four-engine jets, based on the Boeing 707 commercial airframe carry a flight crew of four, plus 13 to 19 mission specialists, a number that can fluctuate depending on the specific assignment involved, according to the Air Force.
The planes cost around $270 million in fiscal 1998 dollars, according to the Air Force, around $540 million today.
Besides the US, Saudi Arabia, France and Chile operate the E-3, and NATO has its own joint force of 14.
The US Air Force has been looking at replacements for the aging fleet, but the Pentagon has yet to settle on a platform although some prototypes are in development.
The US Navy operates a similar but much smaller airborne warning and control aircraft, the E-2 Hawkeye, which can fly off aircraft carriers and are used to monitor the battlespace of carrier strike groups.
But the Hawkeye is not an easy replacement for the Sentry. Because it’s smaller, the Hawkeye has fewer crew to monitor the battlespace, and as it is a turboprop, rather than a jet, it can’t get as high as the Sentry, meaning its radar can’t cover as much territory.
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