The US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract worth nearly $1.2 billion to manufacture three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II airborne early warning and command-and-control aircraft. The agreement covers the production, delivery, and related support services for the aircraft, with work scheduled to run through December 2031.
Most of the manufacturing will take place at Northrop Grumman’s facilities in Melbourne and St. Augustine, Florida, supported by additional sites across the United States and select suppliers in France and the United Kingdom. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded the contract using Fiscal Year 2026 Navy aircraft procurement funds, initially obligating approximately $583.4 million.
The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye serves as the US Navy’s carrier-based airborne early warning and battle management platform. Equipped with the AN/APY-9 radar, the aircraft delivers long-range surveillance of aircraft, missiles, ships, and other threats while providing command-and-control coordination across naval, air, and joint operations.
The Block II configuration features an upgraded computing architecture, greater processing capacity, and enhanced software capabilities to support next-generation sensors, networking technologies, and mission systems as the Navy continues modernizing its carrier air wings.
E-2D Modernization Efforts
The contract follows several recent initiatives aimed at enhancing the E-2D Hawkeye fleet. In April, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman successfully completed flight testing of the Digital Receiver Exciter Recorder (DRER), a new radar subsystem designed to improve threat detection, tracking, and processing capabilities while strengthening carrier strike group operations.
During the same month, Northrop Grumman selected Green Hills Software’s real-time operating system for the aircraft’s GPS-modernized Embedded GPS/Inertial Navigation System (EGI), improving navigation performance in GPS-denied environments while enabling faster software integration and future upgrades.
Earlier in January, the US Navy awarded BAE Systems a $62 million contract to establish a dedicated maintenance depot for the AN/APX-122A Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system, reinforcing long-term sustainment and readiness of the E-2D fleet.
