Australian officials just announced the initial delivery of two Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft from Boeing, although they also acknowledged the problem-plagued Wedgetail program had far to go.

“Development, test and evaluation are still ongoing with many hurdles still to be overcome, particularly with respect to radar, electronic support measures and integrated system performance and stability,” said the AEW&C program manager, Air Vice Marshal Chris Deeble.

Officials said Boeing scheduled initial acceptance of the first two 737-type aircraft for the first quarter of 2010 when the aircraft will come into the commonwealth’s ownership. Project Wedgetail, originally due to begin with aircraft deliveries in 2006, was pushed back several times by integration issues.

The company most recently had been working on final verification issues like countermeasures dispenser system. Boeing said earlier this month that system testing near Washington state in the U.S. included 19 flights that dispensed more than 500 units of chaff and flares. Data also were collected via five high-speed video cameras mounted on the Wedgetail aircraft and an additional video camera attached to a Boeing flight test T-33 chase aircraft.