[Luke Y]

Is it just me or did this seem to fly under the radar? (No Pun Intended)

First I've heard of it.


http://www.reuters.c...625176020090616

Quote

Pentagon approves Northrop E-2 plane production

PARIS (Reuters) - Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) said a contract to build the first two production models of the U.S. Navy's new twin-engine E-2D Advanced Hawkeye command and control aircraft was worth $432 million.

The fixed-price contract, which contains an incentive fee, includes funding for two production aircraft and will finance the acquisition of long-lead items for two more, the company said in a statement.

The Navy awarded Northrop the contract on Monday after the program passed a major milestone review, allowing Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's chief arms buyer, to approve the start of low-rate production of the plane, which acts as a type of digital quarterback, for the Navy.

Northrop won an initial $1.9 billion contract to design and develop the plane in August 2003.

"This contract award confirms that the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye design is stable, and we have the critical manufacturing processes in place to produce and deliver a high-quality, reliable weapons system to the warfighter," said Jim Culmo, Northrop vice president in charge of the program.

Culmo said Northrop was on track to deliver the first pilot production aircraft in 2010.

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft are equipped with an advanced Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) radar that will pick up smaller targets at a greater range than currently deployed systems. Once fielded, it will join the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and EA-18G Growler on Navy carriers.

The Navy said Carter signed an acquisition decision memorandum on June 11 allowing continued work on the program after cost increases triggered a review that could have led to its cancellation.

Carter also approved low-rate production, which allows a ramp-up in manufacturing of a new weapon system, giving the program time to iron out any production problems before it moves into full-rate production.

The Navy said a rigorous review of the program showed cost increases could be mitigated by buying the aircraft at a more efficient rate. It said it was also pursuing cost-cutting initiatives, including possible multi-year procurements.

The current plan calls for the Navy to buy two aircraft in both fiscal years 2009 and 2010. It plans to buy 75 aircraft overall.

[JamesG123]

Wow. 1.2 Billion to "develop" an aircraft that has been in service since the 50s... :blink:

[Mote]

JamesG123, on Sat 20 Jun 2009 1141, said:

Wow. 1.2 Billion to "develop" an aircraft that has been in service since the 50s... :blink:

Fairly hefty update.

[swerve]

JamesG123, on Sat 20 Jun 2009 1641, said:

Wow. 1.2 Billion to "develop" an aircraft that has been in service since the 50s... :blink:

New radar, new engines I think, new props, considerable airframe changes.

[Xavier]

JamesG123, on Sat 20 Jun 2009 1541, said:

Wow. 1.2 Billion to "develop" an aircraft that has been in service since the 50s... :blink:

I strongly suspect it has about the same resemblance to the orginal as e.g. SM2 has to Tartar.

[shep854]

If these are new-build, the production line may have to be rebuilt from scratch...when was the last E-2 built, and does the Calverton facility even exist anymore?

[JOE BRENNAN]

shep854, on Sat 20 Jun 2009 1917, said:

If these are new-build, the production line may have to be rebuilt from scratch...when was the last E-2 built, and does the Calverton facility even exist anymore?

E-2C production was moved from Calverton, NY (on Long Island) to NG's facility in St. Augustine, Florida in 1994. They were delivering new build Hawkeye 2000 standard E-2C's to the USN and foreign customers until recently or still, pending switchover to E-2D production, plus upgrading a/c to the Hawkeye 2000 standard. The Long Island facility was turned back over to the Navy (I think it was a long term lease), then to the local govt. and it's now a private airfield with some of the land sold to developers.

Joe

[Kenneth P. Katz]

It's an enormous change. Basically a new weapon system that shares the same basic shape and concept as its predecessor.

JamesG123, on Sat 20 Jun 2009 1541, said:

Wow. 1.2 Billion to "develop" an aircraft that has been in service since the 50s... :blink:

[Sami Jumppanen]

Kenneth P. Katz, on Sun 21 Jun 2009 0147, said:

It's an enormous change. Basically a new weapon system that shares the same basic shape and concept as its predecessor.

Damn right. E-2C has been around since 1973, so there must have been lots of things to upgrade.

[Kenneth P. Katz]

I got a fam flight in an E-2C around 1987. It had big round CRT displays in the back, and what is by today's standards an antique radar and puny computers. The latest version of the E-2C (called Hawkeye 2000) is already enormously different than what I got to fly. The E-2D is a step change beyond that.

Sami Jumppanen, on Sun 21 Jun 2009 2149, said:

Damn right. E-2C has been around since 1973, so there must have been lots of things to upgrade.

[Sami Jumppanen]

Kenneth P. Katz, on Mon 22 Jun 2009 0018, said:

I got a fam flight in an E-2C around 1987. It had big round CRT displays in the back, and what is by today's standards an antique radar and puny computers. The latest version of the E-2C (called Hawkeye 2000) is already enormously different than what I got to fly. The E-2D is a step change beyond that.

Yes, my point being is that in Hawkeye 2000 there must have been some leftovers from earlier modells as systems were just upgraded to newer standard leaving some parts from earlier era still in the plane. Must have been nightmare to integrate all the systems during the overhauls. -2D must have made things much easier when it comes to upgrading.

[Red Ant]

So I guess we can expect this project to be canceled some time in 2025 with cost overruns of 800% and about 3 planes produced.

[lastdingo]

Will it finally get an electronically scanned array radar?

[swerve]

lastdingo, on Tue 23 Jun 2009 0033, said:

Will it finally get an electronically scanned array radar?

Yes.

But note that it still rotates.

This post has been edited by swerve: 23 June 2009 - 0730 AM

[Kenneth P. Katz]

AN/APY-9

lastdingo, on Mon 22 Jun 2009 2333, said:

Will it finally get an electronically scanned array radar?

[Brasidas]

Two things of note here.

The E-2D airframes will all be of a common airframe with common avionics and common mission payload. That's far better than the present E-2C fleet which have such uncommon differences, about half the fleet is unique unto themselves.

Then the following tidbit. Northrop originally planned to build a steam gauge analog cockpit that was largely unchanged from the E-2C orginal buils. NAVAIR had a look around and decided a glass cockpit was in order, and put together a common avionics architecture for the E-2D. Of course, Northrop was there too offer a new glass cockpit they would have included in the first block upgrades as soon as the USN had paid them top dollar for an obsolete analog cockpit.