The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the US Navy as a replacement for the earlier, piston-engine E-1 Tracer, which was rapidly becoming obsolete. The E-2 was the first aircraft designed specifically for its role, as opposed to a modification of an existing airframe. The E-2 also received the nickname ‘Super Fudd’ because it replaced the WF (later E-1) ‘Willy Fudd’.

In recent decades, the E-2 has been commonly referred to as the ‘Hummer’ because of the distinctive sounds of its turboprop engines, quite unlike that of turbojet and turbofan jet engines. In smaller numbers of E-2s have been sold to the armed forces of Egypt, France, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan. The E-2 Hawkeye is a crucial component of all Navy carrier air wings, and each carrier is equipped with four Hawkeyes (five in some situations), allowing for continuous 24-hour-a-day operation of at least one E-2. During Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom all ten Regular Navy Hawkeye squadrons flew overland sorties. The E-2A Hawkeye entered US Navy service in January 1964 and in April 1964 with VAW-11 at NAS North Island. The first deployment was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during 1965. Since entering combat during the Vietnam War, the E-2 has served the US Navy around the world, acting as the electronic ‘eyes of the fleet’.

In August 1981, a Hawkeye from VAW-124 ‘Bear Aces’ directed two F-14 Tomcats in an intercept mission in the Gulf of Sidra that resulted in the downing of two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22s. Hawkeyes from VAW-123 aboard the aircraft carrier USS America directed a group of F-14 Tomcat fighters flying the Combat Air Patrol during Operation ‘El Dorado Canyon’, the joint strike against Libyan terrorist targets during 1986. More recently, E-2Cs provided the command and control for both aerial warfare and land-attack missions during the Persian Gulf War.VAW-120, the E-2C fleet replacement squadron began receiving E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes for training use in July 2010, and on 27 March 2014, the first E-2Ds were delivered to the VAW-125. As the series title ‘Real to Replica’ suggests, the book also contains colour profiles, walk arounds, and how to build plastic models of the E-2 in popular scales, making this an ideal reference for the enthusiast and modeller alike.