The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye: what it is and what it does

The Navy's E-2 Hawkeye provides all-weather airborne early warning, airborne battle management, and command and control for the Carrier Strike Group and the Joint Force Commander. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is the newest variant and replaces the E-2C Hawkeye, according to the Navy's E-2 fact file. The E-2D is carrier-based and flies with a five-person crew. For anyone who builds, buys, or supports systems for naval aviation, the public record answers the first questions about this aircraft: what it does, who crews it, and which office develops its software.

Pilot

Pilot

Mission systems operator

Mission systems operator

Mission systems operator

The co-pilot can act as a fourth mission systems operator.

Initial operational capability

October 10, 2014

First deployment

March 11, 2015

Projected inventory

75 aircraft

Sources: NAVAIR E-2D product page and NAVAIR releases of October 2014 and March 2015.

What the aircraft is

The fact file describes the E-2 as a twin-engine, high-wing turboprop with a 24-foot diameter radar rotodome mounted on the upper fuselage. The primary function is airborne command and control and battle space management, and Northrop Grumman is the contractor. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) product page for the E-2D gives the same prime contractor. Both pages say the E-2D has upgraded aircraft systems intended to improve supportability and increase readiness.

Five crew: two pilots and three operators

NAVAIR lists the E-2D crew as five: two pilots and three mission systems operators, with the option for the co-pilot to act as a fourth mission systems operator. The same page credits the glass cockpit and a tactical fourth operator display with giving the crew more flexibility across missions.

A March 2015 NAVAIR release adds that the all-glass cockpit allows the co-pilot to assist with many of the duties of the crew's Naval Flight Officers in flight.

What the E-2D does for the carrier strike group

The fact file calls the E-2 an integral component of the Carrier Strike Group air wing. Beyond the core role, it lists these missions:

• surface surveillance coordination
• air interdiction
• offensive and defensive counter air control
• close air support coordination
• time-critical strike coordination
• search and rescue airborne coordination
• communications relay

A 2014 NAVAIR release describes the E-2D as acting as a "digital quarterback." The aircraft scans the environment with its onboard sensors, processes the data with its tactical mission computer, and distributes the tactical picture to command centers and other assets through onboard communication subsystems. The release places the aircraft alongside the F/A-18 and the EA-18G Growler on the carrier flight deck and says the Navy also uses the capability in humanitarian and disaster relief operations.

Milestones and program office

• Initial operational capability (IOC): The E-2D reached IOC on October 10, 2014, when Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 125 was declared manned, trained, equipped, and ready to start deployment preparation, according to NAVAIR. The fact file and the product page both give October 2014.
• First deployment: Five E-2Ds of VAW-125 began their maiden deployment on March 11, 2015, as part of Carrier Air Wing 1 aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).
• Production: The product page lists the production phase as Full Rate Production and the projected inventory as 75 aircraft.
• Program office: NAVAIR's E-2/C-2 Airborne Tactical Data System Program Office, PMA-231, develops software and other upgrades for the aircraft, per the 2015 release.
• Aerial refueling: The fact file reports that the first operational fleet squadron completed aerial refueling training in fiscal year 2020, and says the capability increases the E-2D's range and persistence.

The fact file lists Egypt, Japan, Taiwan, and France as operators of E-2C variants, and Northrop Grumman's product page names the same four countries as operating E-2 platforms.

When two Navy pages give different figures

The fact file carries a last-updated date of 17 September 2021 and covers the whole E-2 family. It lists a ceiling of 30,000 feet and a length of 57 feet 6 inches. The NAVAIR E-2D page, which is undated, lists a ceiling of 37,000 feet and an overall length of 57 feet 8.75 inches.

The product page also describes aerial refueling IOC in the future tense for fiscal year 2020, which is older wording than the fact file's report that training was complete. Figures for any specific purpose should come from the current NAVAIR page.

What to check

• Does a figure cite the fact file (updated 17 September 2021, covering the whole E-2 family) or the NAVAIR E-2D page (undated)?
• Does the document call the non-pilot crew mission systems operators, as the NAVAIR product page does, or Naval Flight Officers, as the 2015 release does, and does it keep one title throughout?
• Is a status such as aerial refueling written in the future tense or the past, and which page's wording does it follow?
• When a document names operators of the aircraft, does it separate the E-2C variants the fact file lists from the E-2D?

Azcuna's ELLMENT, the E-2D Large Language Model Entity, was proposed to NAVAIR PMA-231 under Navy SBIR Phase I topic DON26BZ01-NV010. The prototype, built at private expense on publicly available doctrine, answers with a page-level citation and refuses when the documents do not support an answer. The proposal has been submitted.

Sources

1. 1E-2 Hawkeye Airborne Command and Control Aircraft · U.S. Navy
2. 2E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) · Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
3. 3U.S. Navy's E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft achieves Initial Operational Capability · Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
4. 4Advanced Hawkeye makes maiden deployment on Theodore Roosevelt · Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
5. 5E-2D Advanced Hawkeye · Northrop Grumman