The UK’s Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has confirmed that it has withdrawn from a project to convert five Boeing 737NGs into E-7A Wedgetail surveillance platforms for the Royal Air Force, saying the project was commercially unviable.
The UK Ministry of Defence in March 2019 signed a £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) contract with Boeing to replace the RAF’s 707-based E-3D Sentry fleet with five Wedgetail AEW1s. Deliveries are scheduled to occur between 2023 and 2026, with the program’s first two airframes being refurbished second-hand examples sourced from the commercial sector.
“Despite the very best efforts of all parties, we have not been able to find a way to make the program commercially viable for our business,” said Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group chief executive Alistair McPhee.
“As a UK business, we would have been incredibly proud to partner with Boeing to play our part in delivering such an important new platform for the RAF. However, we have to balance that against what is right for the long-term future and financial security of our independent, private company.”
“Our absolute priority now is to continue to support Boeing and the RAF over the coming weeks and months to ensure that the program remains on track,” McPhee says. “We will, of course, collaborate closely with all parties and do whatever we can to effect a smooth and efficient transition.”
Marshall last July said that it expected the Wedgetail conversion work to be performed at its Cambridge airport site to “sustain hundreds of highly skilled jobs in the area”.
STS Aviation Services would now conduct the work after an announcement from Boeing Defence UK. Marshall had been initially awarded a risk-reduction contract last July in support for the effort. A commercial MRO specialist, STS secured the business following a tender process initiated after Marshall’s decision to withdraw its participation.
