Analysts say the destruction of a U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry aircraft in an Iranian attack on a Saudi air base could undermine the U.S.’s ability to detect a looming Iranian threat from afar.
Dramatic images of the wrecked aircraft geolocated by CNN show its broken tail and unique rotating radar dome, a key part of the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base.
The loss of AWACS is a “severe blow to (US) surveillance capabilities,” said Cedric Layton, a former US Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst who was on the plane.
“It could potentially impact (the United States’) ability to control and guide fighter aircraft to targets and protect them from engagement with enemy aircraft and missile systems,” he said.
CNN has reached out to U.S. Central Command for comment on the destruction of the plane.
AWACS enables aerial surveillance of up to 120,000 square miles of battlespace from the ground to the stratosphere and has been a critical component of the U.S. combat force for decades. Analysts see Washington’s fleet of 17 E-3s and the United States’ years of experience using the E-3 as major advantages.
Images of the destroyed aircraft began appearing on social media sites over the weekend. CNN pinpointed the image to an air base in central Saudi Arabia by comparing it to a satellite image from March 11 that showed an E-3 aircraft in the same spot in a recent photo.
CNN previously reported that at least 10 US military personnel were injured in the attack on the air base. No deaths were reported. A U.S. Air Force tanker aircraft was also damaged, officials said.
The E-3 aircraft itself is a powerful airborne command post as well as a surveillance platform.
It can track around 600 targets at once, from other aircraft to missiles, large drones, and even tanks on the battlefield.
Personnel aboard the E-3 can communicate that information in real time to theater commanders, ships at sea, or the Department of Defense.
Controllers onboard the AWACS, on the other hand, can direct interceptors to incoming threats or dispatch attack aircraft to support ground forces under attack.
This month’s report from the Center for a New American Security calls AWACS the “quarterback” of the battlefield, saying they “agilely provide critical situational awareness and real-time coordination, turning individual sorties into dominant forces.”
The report calls AWACS “an essential asset for current and foreseeable future U.S. military operations.”
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Peter Leighton, a former Royal Australian Air Force officer and research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, said airborne radar would dramatically increase threat detection time.
In the current conflict, the E-3 could see Iran’s Shahed drone launched 200 miles away, about 85 minutes earlier than ground-based radar, Leighton said.
Because AWACS is mobile, it can move quickly to new crisis areas, making it a more difficult target for adversaries than fixed ground radars.
Analysts on Monday questioned how the United States allowed the E-3 to become vulnerable to Iranian attack.
“Special measures are often taken to protect them from enemy fire during the flight, sometimes with fighter escort, but they are never allowed to fly over enemy territory to keep them safe,” Leighton said.
He said the loss of E-3s on the ground was a “serious violation of our force protection efforts.”
Leighton also said the attack could indicate that Iran is getting help targeting key U.S. assets.
“Russia likely provided Iran with geographic coordinates and satellite images showing its exact location,” he said.
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The attack shows that Iran is selectively targeting a limited number of high-value targets with its military capabilities, Kelly Grieco, a fellow at the Stimson Center, wrote in X.
She pointed to attacks on radar and satellite communications infrastructure on other U.S. military bases in the region since the war began.
“Iran is targeting radars to detect threats, tankers to keep the jets flying, and AWACS to direct the fight. This is an anti-aircraft operation. It is adapting to what Iran can actually do. And the damage is real,” Grieco wrote.
Analysts also noted the size and age of the U.S. E-3 fleet and its strain from operations in the Middle East.
According to FlightGlobal.com’s 2026 World Air Forces Directory, the E-3 is in limited supply on U.S. aircraft, with only 17 aircraft on hand as of the beginning of the year. This is fewer AWACS than B-2 bombers (20).
And they are old people. The first aircraft joined the Air Force fleet in 1978, but the U.S. fleet dwindled from 32 aircraft in 2015.
The four-engine jet is based on a Boeing 707 commercial aircraft and carries a crew of four plus 13 to 19 mission specialists, although that number can vary depending on the specific mission, the Air Force said.
According to the Air Force, the plane cost about $270 million in 1998 and about $540 million today.
In addition to the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, and Chile operate the E-3, and NATO has 14 joint forces of its own.
The U.S. Air Force is considering replacements for its aging fleet, while the Pentagon has several prototypes in development but has not yet decided on a platform.
The U.S. Navy operates a similar but much smaller airborne warning and control aircraft, the E-2 Hawkeye, which can fly from aircraft carriers and is used to monitor the battlespace of carrier strike groups.
However, Hawkeye is not an easy replacement for Sentry. Because the Hawkeye is small, it has a smaller crew to monitor the battlespace, and because it is a turboprop rather than a jet, it cannot reach as high altitudes as the Sentry. That is, radar cannot cover as much area.
