The US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a $50 million E-2D Hawkeye early warning aircraft engineering and product support services contract.
The Lot 11 E-2D modification contract runs through February 2027.
The navy began inducting the carrier-based aircraft in 2010 as an upgrade to the E-2C. The service plans to replace all 75 E-2Cs by 2025.
The E-2 platform performs airborne early warning, airborne battle management, and command and control, including “integrated fire control and theater air and missile defense missions.”
E-2D Features
The E-2D is the newest variant of the E-2 platform, with better radar sensor capability than its predecessors and a robust network-centric capability.
“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 harm’s way, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is the key to advancing the mission, no matter what it may be,” Northrop explained.
“The E-2D gives the warfighter expanded battlespace awareness, especially in the area of information operations delivering battle management, theater air, and missile defense, and multiple sensor fusion capabilities in an airborne system.”
Planned Upgrades
The navy has planned a staged upgrade of the E-2D over the next three decades.
The upgrades would be conducted through a “delta system software configuration,” each taking four to five years to complete.