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NATO progresses effort to replace E-3A AWACS fleet

17th April 2024 - 12:03 GMT | by Damian Kemp in London

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NATO has been hoping to retire E-3As from 2035. (Photo: NATO)

NATO’s E-3A AWACS fleet has been scheduled for retirement from 2035. The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has been leading the Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) project to develop new options for future surveillance and control capabilities, based on future technology and requirements.

The NSPA will progress to development stage the AFSC project within the planned 2025 deadline as the agency moves beyond the concept stage pending the go-ahead from NATO itself.

Speaking at Defence IQ’s C4ISR Global conference, taking place in London from 17–18 April, AFSC project manager Dr Cagatay Soyer said the programme remained at concept stage which evaluated candidate technical concepts with varying levels of technical capability.

Soyer highlighted several findings of the studies carried out in concept stage including the difficulty of high performance in contested and denied environments, and achieving multi-domain battle management command and control and situational awareness.

The