Boeing-led industry team wins NATO E-3 AWACS replacement study contract

The team will help NATO refine concepts to replace the capabilities currently provided by its fleet of AWACS aircraft.

NATO E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft.

Boeing has been awarded a contract from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) to conduct a Risk Reduction & Feasibility Study of future air surveillance, command, and control concepts. The study by a Boeing-led industry team will guide capability development efforts by the alliance members in advance of the planned retirement of NATO’s E-3 AWACS in 2035.

“We are committed to helping NATO and its allies meet evolving security challenges,” said Kim Stollar, Boeing managing director, EU & NATO Government Affairs. “The combined engineering and aerospace expertise of our team will ensure we deliver a technical concept that provides the most effective means of addressing NATO’s future surveillance, command, and control needs.”

Boeing teamed up with leading NATO industry partners through the ABILITI team to deliver true multi-national, multi-domain expertise focused on a systems-of-systems.

“We are proud to be a part of this critical program that will shape the Alliance’s future capabilities,” said Maria Laine, Boeing vice president, International Business Development. “Boeing has been a proud partner of NATO for over 40 years and we look forward to strengthening our relationship.”

The ABILITI partnership was established in 2019 with Indra (Spain), Leonardo (Italy), Inmarsat (UK), and Thales (France). In 2019, the ABILITI team won and successfully executed a contract for the AFSC High-Level Technical Concept. It has now expanded to support the AFSC study phases with the additions of ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH (Germany), Lufthansa Technik (Germany), and Mott MacDonald (UK).

Source: Boeing