Regarding the two Russian A50 shot down during the Ukraine war, but it would also apply to US style AWACS.
Beside the price-tag of the plane itself, I would expect that the crews operating the radar are also highly trained, and that if it may be even harder to train a crew than to build a new plane.
I know, that something as simple as pulling the big-red handle on your paraglider harness is pretty hard when you’re in a severe flight incident dealing with G forces and the ground moving full speed toward you, and I imagine it’ll be even harder on a large plane, where you need to access a escape hatch, most likely in a burning and depressurized cabin while having no idea where is up/down due to the G-force and the rotation. However, when flying a plane which like a high value target for the opposing army it would at least feel more comfortable to know that you have a low but non zero chance to escape if you’re shot down.
AWACS had parachute and some chut you could slide out at one time. Don’t quote me on that entirely. They simply were not worth it. First most accidents happen and have happened on takeoff and landing. No good in that situation. In a war environment, getting hit by a missile, pretty much the only weapon that will take down an AWAC or similar. Missiles likely won’t give crew time to escape. Plane will be doing some kind of tumble. Then you got training. It not simply train once and all good but every year. Sometimes it is better to use that money and time to provide better alternate training that will be more effective. Say for more escort aircraft or better alternate safety systems within the aircraft. You also have the space it takes up resulting in less functionality of your aircraft.
In a large scale world war III scenario, AWACs and similar would be a dangerous plane to crew. Shot down rapidly. In our current warfare situation, they are one of the safer planes to be in. Unless you are Russian and incompetent.
Being Russian and incompetent tend to be dangerous nowadays
So, redundant?
But is that an instant death, or is that like 1-2 minutes tumbling in a burning inferno before everything goes black.
Is there a functional difference?
A big one when you"re in that plane. In the first case you don’t know what happened. In the other you’re strapped to a chair, get G load, breathe smoke and know you’ll die. It’s the case where at least trying to reach an escape hatch gives you something to do during you’r last minutes of life
Neither case would benefit from a parachute.