Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northr...an_E-2_Hawkeye

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 its role, 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.

The E-2 also received the nickname "Super Fudd" because it replaced the E-1
Tracer "Willy Fudd". In recent decades, the E-2 has been commonly referred to as
the "Hummer" because of the distinctive sounds of its turboprop engines, quite
unlike that of turbojet and turbofan jet engines. In addition to U.S. Navy
service, smaller numbers of E-2s have been sold to the armed forces of Egypt,
France, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan.

The E-2 is a high-wing airplane, with one turboprop engine on each wing and
retractable tricycle landing gear. As with most carrier-borne airplanes, the E-2
is equipped with a tail hook for recovery (landing), and the nose gear can
attach to a shuttle of the aircraft carrier's catapults for launch (takeoff). A
distinguishing feature of the Hawkeye is its 24-foot (7.3 m) diameter rotating
radar dome (rotodome) that is mounted above its fuselage and wings. This carries
the E-2's primary antennas for its long-range radar and IFF systems. No other
carrier-borne aircraft possesses one of these. Land-based aircraft with
rotodomes include the Boeing E-3 Sentry, a larger AWACS airplane operated by the
U.S. Air Force and NATO air forces in large numbers. The similarly-placed
stationary radome of the E-2's piston-engined predecessor, the E-1 Tracer, also
mandated the E-2's adoption of a modern version of Grumman's long-patented
Sto-Wing folding wing system, preventing the folded wing panels from making
contact with the E-2's rotodome.

The aircraft is operated by a crew of five, with the pilot and co-pilot on the
flight deck and the combat information center officer, air control officer and
radar operator stations located in the rear fuselage directly beneath the
rotodome.

In U.S. service, the E-2 Hawkeye provides all-weather airborne early warning and
command and control capabilities for all aircraft-carrier battle groups. In
addition, its other purposes include sea and land surveillance, the control of
the aircraft carrier's fighter planes for air defense, the control of strike
aircraft on offensive missions, the control of search and rescue missions for
naval aviators and sailors lost at sea, and for the relay of radio
communications, air-to-air and ship-to-air. It can also serve in an air traffic
control capacity in emergency situations when land-based ATC is unavailable.

The E-2C and E-2D Hawkeyes use advanced electronic sensors combined with digital
computer signal processing, especially its radars, for early warning of enemy
aircraft attacks and anti-ship missile attacks, and the control of the carrier's
combat air patrol (CAP) fighters, and secondarily for surveillance of the
surrounding sea and land for enemy warships and guided-missile launchers, and
any other electronic surveillance missions as directed.


Role
Airborne early warning and control

National origin
United States

Manufacturer
Grumman
Northrop Grumman

First flight
21 October 1960

Introduction
January 1964

Status
In service

Primary users
United States Navy
(See operators below)

Produced
1960–present

Unit cost

US$176 million (FY2012 flyaway cost)

Developed into
Grumman C-2 Greyhound

The E-2A entered U.S. Navy service on January 1964, and in April 1964 with
VAW-11 at NAS North Island. The first deployment was aboard the aircraft carrier
USS Kitty Hawk during 1965.

Since entering combat during the Vietnam War, the E-2 has served the US Navy
around the world, acting as the electronic "eyes of the fleet".

In August 1981, a Hawkeye from VAW-124 "Bear Aces" directed two F-14 Tomcats
from VF-41 "Black Aces" in an intercept mission in the Gulf of Sidra that
resulted in the downing of two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22s. Hawkeyes from VAW-123
aboard the aircraft carrier USS America directed a group of F-14 Tomcat fighters
flying the Combat Air Patrol during Operation El Dorado Canyon, the joint strike
of two Carrier Battle Groups in the Mediterranean Sea against Libyan terrorist
targets during 1986.

More recently, E-2Cs provided the command and control for both aerial warfare
and land-attack missions during the Persian Gulf War. Hawkeyes have supported
the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Customs Service, and American federal and state
police forces during anti-drug operations.

In the mid-1980s, several U.S. Navy E-2Cs were made available to the U.S. Coast
Guard and the U.S. Customs Service for counter-narcotics (CN) and maritime
interdiction operations (MIO). This also led to the Coast Guard building a small
cadre of Naval Flight Officers (NFOs), starting with the recruitment and
interservice transfer of Navy flight officers with E-2 flight experience and the
flight training of other junior Coast Guard officers as NFOs. A fatal aircraft
mishap on 24 August 1990 involving a Coast Guard E-2C at the former Naval
Station Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico prompted the Coast Guard to discontinue
flying E-2Cs and to return its E-2Cs to the Navy. The U.S Customs Service also
returned its E-2Cs to the Navy and concentrated on the use of former U.S. Navy
P-3 Orion aircraft in the CN role.

E-2 Hawkeyes have been sold by the U.S. Federal Government under Foreign
Military Sales (FMS) procedures to the armed forces of Egypt, France, Israel,
Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.

Specifications (E-2C/D)

General characteristics
Crew: Five: Pilot, Copilot, Radar Officer (RO), Combat Information Center
Officer (CICO), Aircraft Control Officer (ACO)
Length: 57 ft 8.75 in (17.60 m)
Wingspan: 80 ft 7 in (24.56 m)
Height: 18 ft 3.75 in (5.58 m)
Wing area: 700 ft2 (65 m2)
Aspect ratio: 9.15
Empty weight: 40,200 lb (18,090 kg)
Loaded weight: 43,068 lb (19,536 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 57,500 lb (26,083 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Allison / Rolls-Royce T56-A-427 (E-2C), T56-A-427A (E-2D)
turboprop, 5,100 shp (3,800 kW) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 350 knots (648 km/h or 402 MPH)
Cruise speed: 256 knots (474 km/h or 294 MPH)
Ferry range: 1,462 nmi (2,708 km or 1,682 mi)
Endurance: 6 hr
Service ceiling: 34,700 ft (10,576 m)
Wing loading: 72.7 lb/ft2 (355 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.19 hp/lb (0.32 kW/kg)

Avionics
AN/APS-145 Radar, OL-483/AP IFF interrogator system, APX-100 IFF Transponder,
OL-698/ASQ Tactical Computer Group, AN/ARC-182 UHF/VHF radio, AN/ARC-158 UHF
radio, AN/ARQ-34 HF radio, AN/USC-42 Mini-DAMA SATCOM system




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In article , DAN says...

To close Miloch's series, Grumman's precursor to the E-2 Hawkeye:
WF-1 aka E-1, more known as Willy Fudd, the Stoof with a Roof.


I bet the Stoof pilots got a lot more flying time than the state-of-the-art
Naval carrier pilots.



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