With the UAE’s airborne early warning and control (AEWC) contest well underway, Northrop Grumman is pressing on with testing of its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.

The first E-2D has now completed 17 sorties since its initial flight in August, with the first live radar tests on schedule for this month. The second aircraft is undergoing final ground tests before joining the flight test programme by the end of the year.
Work has also started on the pilot production batch of three E-2Ds. Initial operational capability of the type with the US Navy is scheduled for 2011.

The UAE requirement has drawn responses from several companies, including Northrop Grumman and Boeing, the latter with its 737-based AEWC platform. Examples of both the 737 and the E-2C are in the static park. A decision on a winning design had been expected in mid-2007 but this has slipped.

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