Aircraft
Potential First Op Deployment for G550-based EA-37Bs
Two U.S. ‘Compass Call’ aircraft make first landing at UK’s RAF Mildenhall
L3Harris G550 electronic warfare aircraft
With a crew of nine, the modified G550-based EA-37B can fly at nearly twice the altitude and speed of its legacy predecessor, the C-130-derived EC-130H. © L3Harris Technologies

Two U.S. Air Force EA-37B Compass Call aircraft have landed at the UK’s RAF Mildenhall, with a potential onward journey eastbound marking what would be the type’s first operational deployment. According to online flight tracker providers, the pair of electronic warfare aircraft made the journey from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, via a fuel stop in McGuire, New Jersey. The subsequent UK stop suggests the pair is continuing their trip east.

On March 27, an Iranian missile and drone strike hit Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. While satellite images appear to show a U.S. E-3 airborne early warning and control aircraft destroyed, two EC-130Hs may also have been caught in the attack, hence the need to send their successors as replacements.