SW1 wrote: ↑14 Mar 2022, 23:01On a potential US buy of wedgetail there is about as much chance of them buying the version were going to buy as I have going to the moon.
I think that's true, to an extent. Principal differences that I foresee are ESM and possibly the operating system. However, the proposed operating system (that the US will likely adopt) has already had a test flight in an existing Australian E-7A, so I don't think it's a huge mod, and Australia will probably incorporate it eventually and develop the conversion. ESM will probably be different, but it may be that the UK fit will be the same as the Australian version (it would be a gutsy move on the part of the UK to go their own way for so few airframes). It would not be difficult to mod the ESM system later, however. And again, Australia will probably develop a mod to incorporate the US system if there are benefits in doing so down the track.
Now it's true that the US could go wild and adopt a whole range of other differences to the Australian baseline, but you'd have to think that in the interests of deploying this capability quickly and reliably, both Boeing and the USAF will restrain themselves a bit more than usual. No one wants to repeat the tanker drama, I'd assume. Also, at the end of the day the E-7A is a mod to a baseline 737. Provided the US stick to the same 737, I don't see any particular difficulty in adopting the US mod at a later time, particularly when quite a lot is still bound to be the same. If they stick to the same radar hardware, it becomes even easier. So, from my perspective, I'm not too concerned that Australia and the UK will end up straying too far from the US versions. I think with a little bit of will and a modest amount of cash, five or six years down the track all the versions could merge.