On April 11, the US DoD finalised the order of 24 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and awarded Northrop Grumman a $US 3.4 billion contract for the procurement of these aircraft. All aircraft are scheduled to be delivered between 2021 and 2026. Through this contract, Northrop Grumman is also expected to upgrade the 40 vehicles already delivered by that time.
Northrop-Grumman E-2D Hawkeye operating on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (Picture Source: US Navy)
Nowadays, 37 Hawkeye aircraft are already in service throughout the US Navy's squadrons. And those aircraft are either destined to be upgraded to the latest version, the E-2D version, or scheduled to be retired by the entering of service of the new Hawkeye E-2D.
The E-2D version is commercialised by Northrop Grumman under the name "Advanced Hawkeye". By serving as the "digital quarterback" to sweep ahead of the strike, manage the mission, and keep our net-centric carrier battle groups out of harms way, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is the key to advancing the mission, no matter what it may be. The E-2D gives the warfighter expanded battlespace awareness, especially in the area of information operations delivering battle management, theatre air and missile defence, and multiple sensor fusion capabilities in an airborne system.
With a two-generation leap in radar sensor capability and a robust network-enabled capability, the Advanced Hawkeye will deliver critical, actionable data to joint forces and first responders. These advances provide warfighters with the necessary situational awareness to compress the time between initial awareness and active engagement.
