The Navy achieved initial operational capability with its next generation AWACS platform, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye earlier this month, Naval Air Systems Command announced. “The E-2D can detect smaller targets, at longer ranges, over water, in littoral areas, and over land in dense clutter environments,” program manager Navy Capt. John Lemmon said in a NAVAIR release. In addition to its vastly more powerful radar, the Advanced Hawkeye boasts a glass cockpit as well as improved avionics and communications equipment. A total of 15 of the new-build aircraft have been delivered on time and budget, and the Navy plans to purchase a total of 75 Advanced Hawkeyes, according to builder Northrop Grumman’s Oct. 27 release. The legacy E-2C model Hawkeye entered service as a carrier-based AWACS in 1972, and is gradually being phased out as E-2Ds are delivered through 2023, according to the Navy. (Factsheet.)
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.