Breaking: A U.S. Air Force E-3G Sentry airborne early warning aircraft suddenly lost signal over the Strait of Hormuz.
The E-3G Sentry was transmitting emergency code 7700, then lost contact while flying over the Strait of Hormuz.
However, shortly afterward, the aircraft regained signal and was confirmed to have landed in Saudi Arabia.
U.S. military aircraft have previously transmitted the 7700 transponder code multiple times in this region, with only one instance ultimately going missing.
This also implies that Iran conducted extensive electronic jamming operations over the strait.
The E-3G Sentry is not just an aircraft—it's a pair of eyes. The United States isn't merely monitoring; it's testing. The key detail lies in the transponder: during surveillance of Iran, it was turned off. And there was a reason for this shutdown.
The E-3G costs over $270 million per unit. The U.S. currently has only 16 active E-3 Sentry (AWACS) aircraft in service.
$270 million was the original procurement price at purchase—today’s cost could be between $500 million and $700 million. Boeing no longer produces this airframe.
Iran has already destroyed one such aircraft—the core achievement in its combined missile and drone attack on Saudi Prince Sultan Air Base on March 27 of this year. Figures 3 and 4.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874090225607680/
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