Recently, there has been circulating news on the internet that the U.S. military will no longer procure E-7A early warning aircraft and will instead use satellites for early warning. The Thunder-17, Thunder-21, and Russia’s R-37M all have a long range, originally developed to target high-value assets in the rear airspace of the battlefield, primarily tankers and early warning aircraft. The U.S. military also has similar long-range air-to-air missiles such as AIM-174B and AIM-260, combined with stealthy fifth and sixth-generation fighters, enough to put early warning aircraft in danger.
Although the U.S. military chose the E-7A early warning aircraft as a replacement for the E-3, the U.S. military typically refers to the E-7 as a temporary platform, only to fill the gap left by the retirement of the E-3 or any potential inadequacy in future space-based radar capability. With the urgent need to replace the aging E-3 early warning aircraft, the U.S. military initially signed contracts for two aircraft. At the same time, the U.S. military and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) launched the development of the space surveillance system, known as the space-based moving target indicator program. In September 2024, the U.S. Space Force publicly discussed this program for the first time, stating that it may be operational in the early 2030s.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is purchasing a constellation of hundreds of intelligence satellites from L3 Harris and SpaceX, specifically for tracking airborne and ground targets to support ground operations. The satellite reconnaissance network overseen by the NRO is a different system from the one managed by the Space Development Agency’s PWSA, with some overlapping capabilities, but both could potentially be integrated into the Gold Dome system in the future.
On May 20, U.S. President Trump announced the initiation of the “Gold Dome” missile defense program, essentially Space War 2.0, aimed at establishing a multi-tiered defense system covering space and ground to counter missile threats from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and others. China has strongly criticized this move, accusing the U.S. of escalating space competition, while Russia appears relatively indifferent.
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