The St. Augustine Record May 17, 2009
Aircraft built here takes off
By Peter Guinta
Northrop Grumman's long-range detection aircraft, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, reached its 1,000th hour of flight testing, leaving it on track for deployment in 2011, the aerospace company announced Friday.
That's good news for the company and St. Augustine because after the initial five E-2Ds are completed and turned over to the Navy, the company can then begin building 70 more.
Construction for the first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye began April 25, 2005, at the 900-employee St. Augustine facility.
The first aircraft was unveiled in April 2007 and flew for the first time in August 2007.
Northrop Grumman said the E-2D, both made and tested in St. Augustine, "has continued to successfully meet or exceed all major program and performance milestones."
Tom Vice, senior vice president of the company's Battle Management and Engagement Systems Division, said this milestone is significant not just for Northrop Grumman but also the U.S. Navy, which right now flies E-2Cs, an earlier version of the E-2 series, from aircraft carriers.
"We know the value the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will bring to our fleet," Vice said. "It is the next generation of force protection for those in our Navy who lead our global force projection on the open seas."
Diane Baumert-Moyik, spokesman for the company, said there are currently two Advanced Hawkeyes in flight testing and two in pilot production, which will be completed in 2010.
A third plane that had been expected next year was cut from the program earlier this year due to Navy and congressional budget constraints, but Baumert-Moyik said that aircraft's completion will be moved to 2011.
"We worked with our congressional leaders in New York and Florida to have that funding restored," she said. "But we were not able to restore funding for that aircraft. (But) it's not cut, it's postponed."
Navy personnel are already training on the equipment that will go into the Advanced Hawkeye.
The first two completed aircraft will fly from St. Augustine to the Naval Air Warfare Station at Patuxent River, Md.
The Advanced Hawkeye is completely reconfigured from the E-2C, though they look alike from the outside, the company said.
According to GlobalSecurity.org web site, the E-2D will feature "state-of-the art radar with a two-generation leap in capability, as well as upgraded aircraft systems" designed to "provide advance warning of approaching enemy surface units, cruise missiles and aircraft, (and) to vector interceptors or strike aircraft to attack."
It's also is capable of providing surveillance of a battlefield, relaying radio communications from allied units, helping with search and rescue efforts and assisting air traffic control, the site said.
Jim Culmo, vice president of Airborne Early Warning and Battle Management Command and Control Programs, said E-2Ds will give carrier groups "expanded situational awareness" on missions.
"With surface detection to 200 miles, air detection beyond 250 miles and the ability to communicate data and information to decision makers ashore and afloat, as well as aircraft and ships carrying on the fight, the (E-2D's) improvements are significant."
© Copyright 2009, The St. Augustine Record
