E-2C Hawkeye
Description:
The E-2C Hawkeye is the Navy's all-weather, carrier-based
tactical warning and control system aircraft.
Features:
The Hawkeye provides all-weather airborne early
warning and command and control functions for the carrier battle
group. Additional missions include surface surveillance
coordination, strike and interceptor control, search and rescue
guidance and communications relay. An integral component of the
carrier air wing, the E-2C uses computerized sensors to provide
early warning, threat analyses and control of counteraction
against air and surface targets. It is a high-wing aircraft with
stacked antennae elements contained in a 24-foot rotating dome
above the fuselage. The peculiar airflow over and around the
radar dome led to a multiple-surface tail unit
Background:
The continuous improvements in early airborne radars by 1956 led
to the concept of an airborne early warning and command and
control aircraft. The first aircraft to perform this mission was
the Grumman E-1 Tracer (a variant of the S-2 Tracker
anti-submarine aircraft), which saw service from 1954 to 1964.
The E-1's successor, the E-2 Hawkeye, was the first
carrier-based aircraft designed from the outset for the
all-weather airborne early warning and command and control
function. Since replacing the E-1 in 1964, the Hawkeye
has been the "eyes of the fleet." Since its combat
debut during the Vietnam conflict, the E-2 has served the Navy
around the world. Hawkeyes directed F-14
Tomcat fighters flying combat air patrol during
the two-carrier battle group joint strike against
terrorist-related Libyan targets in 1986. E-2Cs and AEGIS
cruisers, working together, provided total air mass superiority
over the American fleet. More recently, E-2Cs provided the
command and control for successful operations during the Persian
Gulf War, directing both land attack and combat air patrol
missions over Iraq and providing control for the shoot-down of
two Iraqi MIG-21 aircraft by carrier-based F/A-18s
in the early days of the war. E-2 aircraft also have worked
extremely effectively with U.S. law enforcement agencies in drug
interdictions. The newest version of the Hawkeye, the
E-2C, became operation in 1973.
General
Characteristics:
Primary
Function: Airborne early warning, command and control
Contractor: Grumann Aerospace Corp.
Unit Cost: $51 million
Propulsion: Two Allison T-56-A427 turboprop engines;
(5,000 shaft horsepower each)
Length: 57 feet 6 inches (17.5 meters)
Wingspan: 80 feet 7 inches (28 meters)
Height: 18 feet 3 inches (5.6 meters)
Weight: Max. gross, take-off: 53,000 lbs (23,850 kg)
40,200 lbs basic (18,090 kg)
Speed: 300+ knots (345 miles, 552 km. per hour)
Ceiling: 30,000 feet (9,100 meters)
Crew: Five
Armament: None
Operational: January 1964 |
