The document chronicles the development of the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) from the early 1960s, highlighting technological advancements and key milestones in radar technology. It outlines the contributions of various companies, notably Westinghouse and Boeing, and discusses the operational history of AWACS aircraft, including deployments in military conflicts. Additionally, it provides information on international variants and the impact of AWACS on modern aerial surveillance.

1. The AWACS Story
William A. Skillman
Westinghouse Retiree
April 24, 2013

2. The Need for AWACS
1962 – Air Force AEW Pulse Radar (EC-121 Warning Star)
blind to low-flying targets
Pulse Doppler developing technology offered look-down
capability:
Westinghouse: BOMARC, F-4J (F-4 A/C) Single Target radars,
APQ-81-Track-While-Scan (U.S. Navy)
Hughes: F-15
General Electric/Northrop Grumman: E-2, Hawkeye, carrier
AEW
1963 USAF TAC & ADC issued
SOR-206 “Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)”

3. Response to SOR 206
AIRFRAME Proposals:
Boeing, Douglas, Lockheed
RADAR Proposals:
Westinghouse, Hughes, Raytheon, GE, 3
others
AIR FORCE:
SAB determined proof of concept needed,
ASD formulated Overland Technology
Program(ORT)
DOD funded ORT program – 1964

4. ORT Aircraft – EC121-1966
Three Aircraft with scaled radars:
Westinghouse–High PRF (Pulse Repetition Frequency)
Hughes – Medium PRF
Raytheon – Low PRF
Radar Antenna mounted in lower radome

5. ORT Antenna in EC-121 Radome
Low sidelobe slotted waveguide array

6. Results of ORT Flight Tests
1968 Raytheon and GE dropped
1968-70 AWACS Support Program to develop
critical radar technologies
1970 Boeing selected as “prime” contractor
1970 Radar Fly-off initiated: WECO and Hughes
design & build Brassboard radars

7. Brassboard Fly-off
Dec. 1971- Radars delivered to Boeing - Seattle
1972 - Radars installed in 2 Boeing 707s
Mar.-Sep. 1972 Radar Test Flights
Westinghouse: 49 flights, 300 hours
Oct. 1972 Flight test results and DDT& E
proposals resulted in Westinghouse win

8. Westinghouse Brassboard Radar

9. AWACS Brassboard Antenna
Slotted Waveguide Planar Array
Low Sidelobes to minimize ground clutter
Electronic Steering in Elevation for height finding

10. Brassboard Aircraft

11. The Road to Production
Post-Win: Airborne Tracking Demo - 6 flights
VIP flights Andrews AFB
Jan. 1973 Full Scale Production Authorized
1974 Jamming Vulnerability “Adequate”
1975 Production Radar Flight test begun
Oct. 1976 1st Prod. Radar delivered to Boeing
Mar. 1977 1st E-3A, Sentry, delivered to A.F.
May 1978 Initial Operational Capability - 6 A/C

12. 1980 Icelandic Odyssey!
Balto. > Tinker > Keflavik> England + Reverse
Purpose: observe performance of improvement

13. Who has 707 AWACS?
U.S.A.F. AN/APY-1
Active: …........................................31
Scrap (TS-3 – BB A/C).................... 1
Crashes (Nellis & Elmendorf AFB)..2
NATO AN/APY-2
Active: …........................................17
Crash (Greece) …............................1
U.K. …..................................................7
France ….............................................4
Saudi Arabia …....................................5
TOTAL..........................................68

14. Recent AWACS Variants
Boeing 707 out of production
Boeing 767 Japan 4
Phased Array – Wedgetail -Boeing 737
Australia 6
Turkey 4
South Korea 4

15. AWACS Deployments
Saudi Arabia – Yemen
Desert Storm - Iraq
Allied Force - Kosovo
Enduring Freedom - Afganistan
Iraqi Freedom
Odyssey Dawn/Unified Protector - Libya
Noble Eagle – Homeland defense
Humanitarian Relief – Hurricanes Rita & Katrina

16. Non-US AWACS Radars
These countries are the only exporters, besides
the U.S., of an AWACS type radar.
Russia IL-76 or A50 or Mainstay
Sweden – SAAB, Ericsson, Erieye
China – KJ-2000 (mod IL-76)
Israel – Israeli Aircraft Industries – Phalcon
Numerous radar/aircraft combinations are being
supplied to other countries.

17. References
Much of the material was drawn from:
“Development of the Airborne Warning and Control System
(AWACS) Radar” by Wm. A. Skillman and Robert E. Cowdery,
recipients of the IEEE AESS 1995 Pioneer Award for the
development of AWACS. Published in the IEEE Trans. on
Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol 31, No. 4, Oct. 1995.
For a later version with color pictures, as well as this slide
show, see the author's website at
“http://SkillmansofAmerica.com”
Link to my home page top right
Here you can also find two eye-witness accounts of the
Hindenburg disaster of 1937 and a slide show “Remembering
the Hindenburg” by the author.