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.)
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.