NORTHROP GRUMMAN EXPECT UAE ORDER FOR HAWKEYE 2000 TO BE COMPLETED THIS YEAR
09 Dec 03. John Vosilla of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems said that the company expects to complete signature of an order for 5 Hawkeye E-2C 2000 surveillance aircraft procured through FMS by the end of the year.
On October 25thn Northrop Grumman held ceremonies to celebrate the delivery of the first new production E-2C Hawkeye 2000 to the U.S. Navy. It is the first of 21 planes being built for the Navy under a $1.4 billion multiyear contract. E-2C Hawkeye 2000 airborne early warning and control aircraft to the U.S. Navy. It is the first of 21 planes being built for the Navy under a $1.4 billion multiyear contract. Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems is also building Hawkeye 2000 E-2Cs for France and Taiwan under the same contract.
Hawkeye 2000 is the fifth generation of the E-2C, which the Navy and six foreign nations have flown since 1973. The Hawkeye 2000 boasts a powerful commercial-off- the-shelf mission computer and new advanced control indicator set workstations (the same workstation systems used on the Navy’s Aegis cruisers and destroyers, ballistic missile submarines and other vessels). It also features the Navy’s Cooperative Engagement System and an integrated satellite communications system. These improvements tremendously increase the Navy’s ability to monitor and control theater-of-operations activities from the ocean surface to the skies and across the seashore.
Initial operational capability will occur for the U.S. Navy in 2004. Among the Hawkeye’s international users, Egypt and Japan are upgrading their fleets to the Hawkeye 2000 configuration and other nations are considering upgrade programs.
Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Systems, headquartered in Dallas, Tex., is a premier aerospace systems integration enterprise. Integrated Systems has the capabilities to design, develop, integrate, produce and support complete systems, as well as airframe subsystems, for airborne surveillance and battle management aircraft, early warning aircraft, airborne electronic warfare aircraft and air combat aircraft.
Details of the upgrades include new mission computers, a CEC link for the U.S. Navy, a DEC Alpha UNIX with an MCOTTS processor, BARCO flat panel displays and a Lockheed Martin ALQ-217 radar.
The primary E-2C mission is surveillance. From an operating altitude above 25,000 feet, the Hawkeye extends the radar horizon by overcoming the line-of-sight limitations imposed on ground-based and shipboard radar systems by the Earth’s curvature and mountainous terrain. With its Lockheed Martin AN/APS-145 radar system, the Group II Hawkeye automatically detects, identifies and tracks targets at ranges exceeding 300 miles, and its passive detection system clandestinely detects and classifies targets at distances beyond radar limits.
The E-2C’s capabilities also have proved effective in strike control, drug interdiction and search-and-rescue missions. The Group II AN/APS-145 radar system provides fully automatic overland targeting and tracking capability; an improved identification friend or foe (IFF) system; a 40 percent increase in radar and IFF ranges; expanded processing capacity; new high/target-capacity color displays; a Joint Tactical Information Distribution System for improved secure anti-jam voice and data communications; and a Global Positioning System for highly accurate navigation.
The long-range, high-resolution radar, working with IFF and passive detection systems through associated computers, not only develops a picture of the operating environment, but also provides real-time information to air defense centers where command decisions are made.
The E-2C also controls friendly aircraft for pinpoint interceptions through high-speed data links. The system can maintain more than 2,000 tracks simultaneously. Track data includes course, speed, altitude and identification of all radar