E-3A Sentry (AWACS)

U.S. Air Force photo

E-3A "Sentry"

Airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications needed by commanders of U.S. and NATO air defense forces.
Modified Boeing 707/320 commercial airframe with a rotating radar dome.
Dome is 30 feet (9.1 meters) in diameter, six feet (1.8 meters) thick, and is held 11 feet (3.3 meters) above the fuselage by two struts.
Contains a radar subsystem that permits surveillance from the Earth's surface up into the stratosphere, over land or water.
Radar has a range of more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) for low-flying targets and farther for aerospace vehicles flying at medium to high altitudes.
Radar combined with an identification friend or foe subsystem can look down to detect, identify and track enemy and friendly low-flying aircraft by eliminating ground clutter returns that confuse other radar systems.