The first ever NATO E-3A AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) plane to be retired has come to rest in Tucson.
The plane departed NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, Germany, and landed at at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base around 1 p.m. Tuesday for storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, also known as the “Boneyard.”
Derived from the Boeing 707 with a distinctive, rotating radar dome perched above its fuselage, the E-3A provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications capabilities.
NATO has planned to modernize 14 of its 17 AWACS, and due to budget restrictions has decided to retire one AWACS aircraft in 2015, according to D-M.
Aircraft from all branches of the Department of Defense, other government agencies and international partners are sent to the Boneyard for storage, preservation, parts reclamation, aircraft regeneration, depot-level maintenance, overflow and aircraft disposal.
