Boeing [BA] recently announced that it has been awarded a $324 million Foreign Military Sales contract from the Electronics Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., to upgrade France’s fleet of four E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, as well as the fleet’s ground system.
“This upgrade–the largest ever for French AWACS–will provide the fleet with more actionable information and better situational awareness,” said Steve Swanz, French AWACS program manager for Boeing. “New mission computers also will reduce the mission operator’s workload, allowing more time to be spent managing the battlespace.”
The French AWACS Mid-Life Upgrade is based on the U.S. AWACS Block 40/45 system, which dramatically enhances the potential for network-enabled operations; increases mission execution capability, reliability and effectiveness; and reduces life-cycle costs.
Air France Industries will begin installing the enhancements at its Le Bourget Airport facility near Paris in 2012. The entire fleet is scheduled to complete this upgrade in the third quarter of 2015.