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AIR 5077 - Project Wedgetail
Airborne Early Warning and Control

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What is AEW&C?

AEW&C stands for ‘Airborne Early Warning and Control’. AEW&C aircraft have been used by major air forces for decades. In recent years the capability has become more widespread, with several smaller air forces acquiring AEW&C aircraft. Today, AEW&C is widely acknowledged as an essential force multiplier in modern warfare and contingency operations.

The invention of radar in the 1930s provided a means to detect aircraft or ships beyond the range of the human eye and in bad weather or darkness, giving commanders early warning of approaching attackers on the surface or in the air. However, radars can only ‘see’ along a direct line also known as ‘line-of-sight’. They cannot see around corners or over the hill or over the horizon. At sea level the ‘radar horizon’ is only about 15 kilometres, so a ship’s radar on a mast cannot see another ship as close as 20 kilometres away. Because of the curvature of the earth the other ship is over the horizon, so there is no direct line-of-sight.

In the same way, surface-based radar gives ample warning of high flying aircraft. However, if aircraft approach at low level, the radar horizon is reduced to less than 20 kilometres. To this day, the tactic of approaching a target at low level to avoid radar detection is still used by modern aircraft to fly ‘under’ the enemy radar and achieve surprise.

AEW&C aircraft solve the radar horizon limitation by elevating the radar 10,000 metres above the earth’s surface so that the radar can ‘see’ everything out to a range of hundreds of kilometres. Low flying aircraft can no longer ‘sneak up’ by approaching below the radar horizon.

As well as overcoming the radar horizon limitation AEW&C aircraft have the capability to deploy to their stations much faster than surface-based radars and could quickly redeploy in reaction to changed situations. An airborne radar can cover a much larger volume of low level airspace than can a surface-based radar and can ‘see’ about 250 square kilometres at the surface. The AEW&C aircraft cruising at an altitude of 10,000 metres can maintain surveillance over a surface area of 400,000 square kilometres at any given time. Over a 10-hour mission (for example from Darwin to Perth and back), the AEW&C will cover over 4 million square kilometres.

AEW&C aircraft can also serve as a mobile communications relay point, enhancing the ability of widely-spread units to communicate with each other. The AEW&C can combine information from many sources to form a single picture of the operational situation, and then quickly provide this picture to all friendly units, greatly increasing their ‘situational awareness’.

AEW&C is therefore a major new capability for the Australian Defence Force, which will significantly multiply the effectiveness of our existing Navy, Army ,Air Force and Coastwatch, and help Australia maintain a capability edge well into the future. Wedgetail AEW&C will truly be the “Eyes of the Nation”.