The US Congress has reinserted substantial funding for Boeing’s E‑7 “Wedgetail” airborne early warning programme into the draft National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026, reversing a Pentagon-led move to sharply curtail the effort. Drafts circulating in both the Senate and House would provide roughly $1.1 billion to the programme for the year, a dramatic restoration after a White House proposal cut the line to under $100 million.
The decision highlights a growing divergence between lawmakers and the Defense Department over how to replace America’s ageing E‑3 AWACS fleet and how to prioritise surveillance architectures. Congressional scepticism toward the administration’s enthusiasm for a primarily space-based warning construct has driven legislators to preserve a terrestrial, proven airborne capability as an insurance policy against gaps in coverage.
The E‑7 is Boeing’s 737‑based Airborne Early Warning and Control platform, a tried model operated by several US partners. Lawmakers worry that without a clear follow‑on to the decades‑old E‑3 platform the United States could face an emergent capability gap—particularly as airborne radar remains a backbone for command-and-control, battle management and theatre‑level surveillance.
Beyond capability concerns, the funding fight carries industrial and alliance implications. Sustaining the E‑7 programme preserves options for interoperability with partners who already fly similar systems and protects parts of the US defence industrial base that would be affected by an abrupt cancellation; it also signals Congress’s insistence on layered sensing—airborne, space and ground—to cope with peer competitors and evolving threats such as low‑observable aircraft and hypersonic weapons.
The restored funding is not final: the NDAA must clear both chambers and the president to take effect, and procurement decisions will remain contested in budget negotiations and programmatic reviews. Still, Congress’s move establishes a clear posture: it will not cede follow‑on airborne early warning policy entirely to Pentagon proposals or to a rapid pivot to space-only solutions, and defence planners should expect continued oversight and possible compromises as the FY2026 budget is finalised.