Airborne Early Warning and Control is an essential mission in coordinating large air operations and identifying targets before they become a major threat. The US fleet is shrinking, at just 16 operational E-3 Sentry aircraft, aka AWACS, it is getting harder to sustain operations in large part due to their age.So why, with the E-7 Wedgetail and its fancy AESA radar seemingly waiting in the wings, did the Pentagon try to cancel it? To them, it boiled down to survivability and satellite capabilities. There are some problems overall with that argument, though. We get into all this and more in this video.00:00 – Intro02:05 – What airborne radar does05:42 – What is the E-7 Wedge tail08:44 – Pentagon pulls the plug12:50 – Congress forces funding