Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence Procurement (Mr Stuart Andrew): I am pleased to inform the House today that a $1.98 billion contract to deliver five E-7 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft has been signed with Boeing Defence UK.

The E-7 will replace the current E-3D Sentry Airborne Warning and Control aircraft fleet, providing UK Armed Forces with a highly-effective, world-leading capability that has already been proven on operations with the Royal Australian Air Force. A thorough investment approvals process has taken place, with the contract concluded after a period of intensive negotiation with Boeing. The E-7 not only represents value for money for the UK taxpayer, it also provides the optimum surveillance solution to allow UK Armed Forces to monitor and manage airspace on deployments and provide early warning of threats. The E-7 is in operation with one of our key allies and this UK procurement will increase opportunities for interoperability and collaboration. It is also a vital element of the UK’s continued 25% airborne early warning and control contribution to NATO, which will benefit from a greatly enhanced UK capability.

The E-7 contract will also bring significant prosperity benefits to this country, building on Boeing’s current commitment to maximising investment in the UK. Modification work to transform the base Boeing-737 aircraft into the E-7 will be carried out in the UK, sustaining several hundred highly skilled jobs at Marshall Aerospace and Defence in Cambridge. In addition, there are also expected to be significant future opportunities for the UK supply chain in through-life support and training for these UK aircraft and their crews.

Boeing will begin work immediately, with the first of our aircraft expected in 2023.

As part of the plan for a managed transition to E-7, it has been decided to reduce the existing E-3D fleet from six to four aircraft by removing the two long-term unserviceable assets from the active fleet. Doing this now will enable the Sentry Force to focus resources on providing better availability from the remaining four aircraft, to better assure the future Sentry Fleet output, including our commitments to the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force and the provision of NATO Assurance Measures missions.

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