BETHPAGE, N.Y., Aug. 13, 2009 -- In the two years since Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) E-2D Advanced Hawkeye took flight at the company's East Coast Manufacturing and Flight Test Center in St. Augustine, Fla., the program has continued on a steady and successful course with an end goal of delivering this revolutionary Airborne Early Warning weapons system to the warfighter.

"Since our first flight in August 2007, the joint Advanced Hawkeye team has continued to demonstrate its commitment to deliver this state-of-the-art airborne early warning capability to the U.S. Navy," said Jim Culmo, Northrop Grumman vice president of Airborne Early Warning and Battle Management Command and Control Programs. "The team's solid performance and strong momentum has resulted in the program achieving, or exceeding, all major milestones."

Culmo said that E-2D pilot production continues ahead of schedule on the first three aircraft, and production of the first Low-Rate Initial Production aircraft began June 15 under a $432 million contract from the U.S. Navy. "The first two E-2D System Development and Design (SDD) aircraft have transitioned to NAS Patuxent River, Md., where they are undergoing additional testing in preparation for Initial Operational Test & Evaluation, scheduled to begin 1Q FY12," he added. "Each progressive phase of testing brings us that much closer to delivering this significantly expanded battlespace and situational awareness capability to the carrier fleet."

In addition to accumulating more than 1,000 flight hours, over half of which have involved in-flight radar testing, in the past year the Advanced Hawkeye program has successfully completed a Production Readiness Review, Operational Assessment, a Technology Readiness Assessment and a Milestone C.

"The E-2D program continues to be a great success story," said Capt. Shane Gahagan, program manager, Hawkeye Greyhound program office, PMA-231. "Not only is the weapon system meeting or exceeding our expectations, but the U.S. Navy has recognized the excellent performance of the joint program management team, evidenced by the Naval Air Systems Commander's award. Also, with the recent successful Office of Naval Research live-fire event, the commitments the E-2 program is making to the family of systems architecture known as Naval Integrated Fire-Control-Counter Air, or NIFC-CA, are also being met."

As the U.S. Navy's carrier-based airborne early warning and battle management command and control system, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, with its newly developed AN/APY-9 radar, works in concert with surface combatants equipped with the Aegis combat system to detect, track and defeat cruise missile threats at extended range.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. 

  CONTACT:  Kirsti Dunn
          Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
          (301) 373-2388, x2722
          Kirsti.dunn@ngc.com