Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye
The digital Hawkeye — AN/APY-9 electronically scanned UHF radar, glass cockpit and, from 2019, air-to-air refuelling · First flight 2007 · In service 2014
Outwardly similar to the E-2C, the E-2D is a new-build aircraft with a new radar, mission system and cockpit. Its Lockheed Martin AN/APY-9 radar combines electronic scanning with the rotating dome and can track more than 3,000 targets, with markedly better performance over land and against small targets. The first test aircraft, 'Delta One', flew from St. Augustine, Florida, on 3 August 2007, and the type made its first carrier take-off from USS Harry S. Truman in February 2011.
Initial operational capability came in October 2014 with VAW-125 'Tigertails', and the E-2D has since been replacing the E-2C across the US Navy's carrier air wings, with a planned inventory of 75. A refuelling probe was flown in December 2016 and first delivered on a production aircraft in September 2019, adding roughly three hours of station time; the cockpit is fully digital.
Japan was the first export customer, receiving its first E-2D in 2019 and ordering more to replace its E-2Cs. France announced the purchase of three E-2Ds in 2019 for the Charles de Gaulle; the first entered production in December 2024 for delivery in 2027.
