Sunday, November 23, 2008

E-2D Advanced Hawkeye completes operational assessment

E-2D Advanced Hawkeye completes operational assessment (NSI News Source Info) November 23, 2008: Northrop Grumman has completed the operational assessment (OA) phase of its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) flight-test programme, the company announced on 13 November.
Northrop Grumman is hoping to get the okay from the U.S. government to export the Advanced Hawkeye E-2D airborne early warning and control aircraft. ( Northrop Grumman)
The OA, which took place at Northrop Grumman East Coast Manufacturing and Flight Test Centre in St Augustine, Florida, brings the number of flight hours accumulated during the flight-test programme to over 600, with more than half involving in-flight radar testing. Two test aircraft (Delta One and Delta Two), operated by the US Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 1, based out of Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Maryland, and the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School out of NAS Fallon in Nevada, were put through 10 flights over a period of four weeks to complete the assessment. During the OA the test team conducted a series of flight tests comparable to real-world scenarios likely to be encountered by the E-2D in operational service. Image: An E-2D test aircraft undergoing operational assessment trials at Northrop Grumman's St Augustine facility in Florida. The USN plans to introduce the Advanced Hawkeye into service in 2011

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