French Air Force
Boeing E-3F Sentry
Based on the Boeing 707-320B airliner, the E-6B Sentry, is more commonly known by the acronym of its role – AWACS( Airborne Warning and Control System) was developed during the early 1970s for the US Air Force as a replacement for the EC- 121 Warning Star. A total of 68 Sentrys were built between 1977 and 1992 and were delivered to the USAF, French Air Force, NATO, Saudi Arabia and the RAF. The RAF’ s aircraft were the last to be produced however were the first to be retired in 2021, three of which have been acquired by Chile. The Sentry has a large rotating radome attached above the fuselage and the radar within can provide simultaneously monitor all altitudes from sea level to the stratosphere.
The French Air and Space Force operate a fleet of four E-3F Sentry’ s which are all based at BA702 Avord in central France. The aircraft were originally based on the E-3C specification with CFM-56 engines and have been constantly improved throughout their service life since their first delivery in 1991. In a very rare appearance as part of our‘ Eyes in the Skies’ theme, the French Air and Space Force provided an E-3F from 36e EC2A from Avord for static display at RIAT 2025
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