Northrop Grumman has delivered the 70th E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft to the US Navy.
A total of 82 E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes have been produced to date across both the US Navy and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, with the programme maintaining steady production momentum since the aircraft entered service. The delivery was made from Northrop Grumman’s facility in St Augustine, Florida, where the aircraft is assembled.
Janice Zilch, vice president and programme manager for the E-2D at Northrop Grumman, said deliveries demonstrated the company’s commitment to quality and performance with speed and scale, adding that the aircraft was seeing “exceptional performance in today’s operational environments” and that the company was “actively planning its future advancements.”
The E-2D is the latest iteration of the Hawkeye family, which has served as the US Navy’s primary carrier-based airborne early warning platform since the 1960s. The Advanced Hawkeye variant introduced a new active electronically scanned array radar, the AN/APY-9, significantly improving detection range and the ability to track targets in cluttered environments such as those created by terrain or electronic jamming.
Northrop Grumman said the platform was being continuously modernised to meet evolving mission requirements, with updates informed by lessons from current operations. The company said the system was purpose-built for airborne early warning and battle management and that its capabilities were being deliberately enhanced to maintain relevance over the coming decades, reflecting the long service life expected of the platform given the investment required to qualify aircraft for carrier operations.
Japan is one of a small number of international operators of the E-2D, having selected the Advanced Hawkeye to replace its earlier E-2C aircraft.
