Early Warning Aircraft On Display At Aero India 2005 Air Show

Northrop Grumman Corporation will be demonstrating the capabilities of its Hawkeye 2000 airborne early warning aircraft at the Aero India 2005 Air Show from Feb 9-13 in Bangalore, India.

The company designed, developed and produces the Hawkeye 2000 for the US Navy. It is currently offering the aircraft to the Indian navy as the solution to its requirements for an airborne early-warning and battle-management command-and-control system. India is one of a growing number of countries looking at the Hawkeye 2000 to help satisfy the demand for integrated defense capabilities.

"Six nations now own Hawkeyes," said Timothy Farrell, vice president and leader of Northrop Grumman's integrated product team on airborne early warning programs. "That's more than any other airborne early warning and battle management system in the world. The purchase of new Hawkeye 2000s and the upgrade of existing E-2C fleets demonstrate the confidence that nations have in the Hawkeye and their understanding of the need for an advanced, integrated airborne-surveillance and battle-management system – exactly what the Hawkeye provides."

According to Farrell, there are several benefits to this growing international use of the Hawkeye 2000.The aircraft offers a powerful and highly automated target detection-and-tracking capability, and the ability to manage peacetime, crisis and wartime operations. It also gives international allies interoperability with the US Navy's Hawkeye fleet and the benefits of United States-developed technology improvements and support.

Another benefit of the Hawkeye 2000 is its "open" system architecture, a concept in which Northrop Grumman has invested heavily. Based on commercial off-the-shelf technology, an open architecture allows users to easily upgrade, add or remove components from a network.

"The Hawkeye 2000's architecture allows it to be integrated with existing networks more easily and at lower cost than any other airborne early warning aircraft in the world," explained Farrell. "For example, in tests involving US Navy fleet aircraft, we've shown that by inserting commercial Internet communications technologies into the Hawkeye, we can create a network that significantly reduces the time from target detection to target destruction."

In 2004 Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector delivered two new Hawkeye 2000 airborne early-warning and battle-management aircraft to Taiwan, bringing its fleet of Hawkeyes to six. The company also delivered the first Hawkeye 2000 upgrade for Egypt's fleet. These deliveries were in addition to four new Hawkeye 2000s delivered to the US Navy, which, to date, has added 14 of these advanced Hawkeyes to its E-2C fleet. Japan completed the conversion of two of its 13 E-2Cs to the Hawkeye 2000 configuration in 2004 with the help of Northrop Grumman. Mexico also joined the ranks of E-2C operators and is preparing to stand up its three aircraft fleet.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration organization. Headquartered in El Segundo, CA, it designs, develops, produces and supports network-enabled integrated systems and subsystems optimized for use in networks. For its government and civil customers worldwide, Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services that support military and homeland defense missions in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; space access; battle management command and control; and integrated strike warfare.

FMI: www.northgrum.com