Philip Smart | Adelaide
Northrop Grumman will install aerial refuelling (AR) equipment in an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) carrier-borne early warning and surveillance aircraft, after a critical design review approved the concept.
The Navy awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $227 million engineering, manufacturing and development contract in 2013 to design system upgrades that will accommodate an AR capability on the E-2D AHE.
The upgrades include modifications to the fuel system to accommodate a refuelling probe, long endurance and field-of-view-enhancing seats. In addition formation lights have been added to improve visibility and air space orientation between the E-2D AHE and its refuelling tanker and there are also flight control system software enhancements to improve aircraft handling during refuelling operations. The AR capability is expected to reach initial operational capability in FY2020 and the newly completed critical design review paves the way for installing aerial refuelling capabilities aboard the E-2D AHE for flight testing.
The E-2 was the first aircraft in the world designed specifically as a carrier-borne early warning and control aircraft, and has been the eyes and ears of the US Navy’s carrier force since 1964. The extended range of the E-2D AHE would provide enhanced maritime security against modern threats over broad expanses of open water, littoral areas and densely cluttered terrain. The United States and its allies rely on the Hawkeye’s airborne early warning, command and control capabilities to stay ahead of modern and evolving threats.
The US Navy has ordered 75 of the advanced E2-D Hawkeyes and the Navy’s first all-E-2D AHE squadron, the Tigertails of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 125 deployed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in March. Sixty two earlier E-2Cs make up the rest of the US operational fleet.