On the night of July 27, the Chilean Air Force (FACH) received its first Boeing E-3D Sentry: the aircraft, still with the registration ZH103 assigned by the Royal Air Force, landed at II Air Brigade at 18:20 local time.
The second aircraft, with registration ZH106, is at Lajes Air Base No. 4 (Azores Islands) and will complete its delivery flight between July 28 and 29. The Chilean Air Force will operate these two aircraft and a third will serve as a spare parts source.
The E-3D Sentry entered RAF service in March 1991 as part of its Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance fleet. Since then, Sentry aircraft have participated in UK operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, the Middle East and the Caribbean, as well as taking part in NATO missions.
The aircraft will replace the legendary EB-707 Condor: in February this year we reviewed the operation, describing the wisdom of the purchase.
[Video] E-3D Sentry para la Fuerza Aérea de Chile: oportunidad inmejorable, decisión acertada
The FACH Twitter account portrayed the moment of arrival in Santiago de Chile with a brief video:
🔵AHORA | 🛩️ para la #FACh
Boeing E-3D Sentry, 1ª de dos aeronaves de alerta temprana con capacidades de vigilancia, exploración, reconocimiento aeroespacial y mando y control aéreo, aterriza en la IIª Brigada Aérea #FACh. pic.twitter.com/uRrcHP4NkR— Fuerza Aérea de Chile (@FACh_Chile) July 27, 2022
