Grumman E-2 Hawkeye
Sign in to saveAlso known as Grumman W2F Hawkeye, Grumman 123, Hawkeye AWACS, G-123, W2F Hawkeye, E-2 aircraft, Grumman Hawkeye, Grumman Model 123
carrier-capable airborne early warning aircraft family by the Grumman Corporation
Key facts
- Type
- Airborne early warning and control
- National origin
- United States
- Manufacturer
- Grumman , Northrop Grumman
- Status
- In service
- Primary users
- United States Navy See § Operators
- Number built
- 313 (total); 88 (E-2D)
- Manufactured
- 1960–present
- Introduction date
- January 1964
- First flight
- 21 October 1960
- Developed into
- Grumman C-2 Greyhound
via Wikipedia infobox
~37 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable, tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy as a replacement for the earlier, piston-engined E-1 Tracer, which was rapidly becoming obsolete. The aircraft's performance has been upgraded with the E-2B and E-2C versions, where most of the changes were made to the radar and radio communications due to advances in electronic integrated circuits and other electronics.
The fourth major version of the Hawkeye is the E-2D, which first flew in 2007. The E-2 was the first aircraft designed specifically for AEW, as opposed to a modification of an existing airframe, such as the Boeing E-3 Sentry. Variants of the Hawkeye have been in continuous production since 1960, giving it the longest production run of any carrier-based aircraft.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Grumman E-2 Hawkeye” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.