US Navy awards Northrop Grumman $12 billion for first new-build E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II early warning aircraft
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On July 22, 2026, the U.S. Navy awarded Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. a $1.196 billion contract for the production, delivery, and support of three new-build E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II aircraft. Issued by Naval Air Systems Command with $583.394 million in FY2026 aircraft procurement funding obligated at award, the undefinitized agreement establishes the primary procurement path for production-line Block II airframes. The upgrade integrates a Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) mission computing suite to expand real-time signal processing and automated target tracking across complex carrier strike group operational environments.
Under the $1.196 billion undefinitized cost-no-fee contract, Northrop Grumman will manufacture and support three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II aircraft through December 2031, backed by an initial $583.394 million obligation. The Block II baseline replaces legacy mission processing hardware with scalable commercial off-the-shelf architecture to enhance data fusion across AN/APY-9 radar, Cooperative Engagement Capability, and joint datalink networks.
Related topic: French Navy executes first triple E-2C Hawkeye launch to secure airspace around Charles de Gaulle carrier
The E-2D Hawkeye Block II upgrades the aircraft with far more powerful computing and an open architecture, allowing it to process vastly larger amounts of sensor data, integrate future technologies more easily, and remain effective against increasingly complex threats (Picture source: US Navy)
On July 22, 2026, the US Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a contract with a ceiling value of $1.196 billion for three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II early warning aircraft, associated production work, and support through December 2031. The US Navy obligated $583.394 million in FY2026 aircraft procurement funding at award, equal to 48.8% of the maximum contract value, leaving the remaining amount to be negotiated and funded as production, integration, and support requirements are finalized. The agreement is a cost, no-fee undefinitized contract, allowing Northrop Grumman to begin work before the Navy and contractor settle all final terms.
The three aircraft are expected to be the first new-build E-2Ds equipped with the Block II upgrade, in parallel with the $845 million contract awarded in September 2023 to upgrade several E-2Ds already in service. Flight testing is planned to begin in 2028, the first three production aircraft are said to be delivered in 2030, and the US Navy intends to introduce the new standard operationally before the end of the decade. The E-2 Advanced Hawkeye is a carrier-based airborne early warning and battle-management aircraft measuring 17.6 m in length, with a 24.6 m wingspan, for a maximum takeoff weight of 26,082 kg. Two Rolls-Royce T56-A-427A turboprops, each rated at 5,100 shp, drive eight-bladed propellers and support a speed above 300 knots and a service ceiling of 37,000 ft.
Its five-person crew consists of two pilots and three mission-system operators, although the co-pilot can act as a tactical fourth operator and access selected radar, identification and datalink functions from the cockpit. Later-production aircraft incorporate aerial refueling, upgraded fuel system components, endurance seats and external lighting for extended missions. Without tanker support, an operational sortie commonly lasts more than five hours; aerial refueling can extend this beyond eight hours, after which crew fatigue, maintenance limits and carrier-cycle planning become more important than fuel quantity. A carrier air wing normally operates five E-2Ds, which is sufficient to maintain one aircraft on station only if the remainder are divided among launch preparation, recovery, refueling, maintenance and reserve status.
The E-2D’s principal sensor is the AN/APY-9 UHF active electronically scanned array radar housed in the rotating 7.3 m rotodome above the fuselage. Unlike a fixed AESA installation, the AN/APY-9 combines electronic beam steering with mechanical rotation, allowing continuous 360-degree coverage while electronically concentrating radar energy on sectors or targets requiring more frequent updates. The sensor can support surveillance against aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned systems, surface contacts, and ballistic missile trajectories over maritime, land, and coastal environments. Available figures credit the aircraft with the capacity to maintain more than 2,000 tracks and detect targets beyond 550 km under favorable conditions, which may determine whether the US Navy launches fighters, repositions combat air patrols, or authorizes ship-launched interceptors before the threat arrives.
The aircraft’s mission crew also manages identification, assigns intercepts, coordinates tankers and electronic attack aircraft, monitors air wing movements, and controls congested airspace around an aircraft carrier. The current E-2D already processes several independent data streams that operate at different update rates and levels of precision. The AN/APY-9 generates primary radar tracks, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment contributes identity data, electronic support systems detect emissions, satellite communications connect the aircraft with command nodes, and tactical datalinks exchange tracks and orders with aircraft and ships. Link 16 provides a standardized tactical picture but is constrained by network capacity and time-slot allocation.
Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) supports faster, higher-capacity exchanges among compatible aircraft, while Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) transmits higher-quality sensor data suitable for forming composite tracks. The mission computer must decide whether multiple inputs correspond to one object, whether identities conflict, which source has the best positional accuracy, and which track should be treated as a priority threat. This is central to the US Navy’s Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA), because the E-2D can detect a target beyond the radar horizon of an Aegis ship and provide early cueing for an SM-6 engagement, or direct F/A-18E/F and F-35C fighters toward an intercept without requiring them to radiate continuously.
It can also receive information from F-35 sensors operating closer to the threat, correlate that data with the AN/APY-9 picture and redistribute the result to ships, aircraft and command centers. Other potential participants include EA-18G Growlers, P-8A Poseidons, MQ-25 Stingrays, U.S. Marine Corps sensors, U.S. Army IBCS units and allied networks. The limiting factor is increasingly the rate at which the aircraft can ingest, compare, validate and distribute this information, particularly during operations involving hundreds of tracks, intermittent communications and electronic attack. Therefore, the Block II upgrade, previously known as the Delta System Software Configuration, represents a combined hardware and software overhaul of the E-2D’s mission computers, cockpit equipment, operator displays and internal interfaces.
The new computers provide greater processing throughput, larger working memory, increased storage, faster internal data transfer and additional input-output capacity. The architecture also adopts Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) principles and greater use of commercial off-the-shelf hardware, reducing dependence on unique processors and interfaces that become difficult to replace when suppliers discontinue production. New standardized interfaces allow a software application, communications module, or processor card to be changed without redesigning the complete mission system. This matters because military avionics upgrades often spend years in integration and certification even when the new capability itself is comparatively limited. Block II is intended to reduce that burden by separating functions into more replaceable modules and by providing sufficient computing reserve for capabilities not yet defined.
New cockpit and mission displays will also change how operators arrange radar tracks, identification data, weapon status and network information, while software resiliency and cybersecurity are being strengthened for operations under jamming, network disruption and attempted intrusion. The operational purpose of this additional computing capacity is to reduce the time and manpower required to convert raw sensor inputs into a usable engagement picture. During a dense raid, the E-2D may receive radar observations of the same target from the AN/APY-9, an Aegis ship, an F-35 and another airborne sensor, while simultaneously receiving IFF responses, electronic emissions and Link 16 tracks. The mission system must correlate these inputs, remove duplicates, estimate track quality and determine whether inconsistent data results from sensor error, jamming, deception or the presence of multiple closely spaced targets.
The Block II is consequently expected to expand automatic track management, target classification, confidence scoring and prioritization, allowing the crew to focus on decisions rather than manual data reconciliation. The difference becomes important during attacks like those carried out by Iran or Russia, involving dozens of cruise missiles or UAVs, when a display filled with uncorrelated returns can consume operator attention and delay weapon assignment. A 100-drone raid, for example, may include kamikaze drones, decoys, and reconnaissance drones approaching from several altitudes and directions and triggers reactions from civilian and friendly air forces. The E-2D must separate these threats from friendly aircraft and civilian traffic, group them by behavior, identify the most dangerous axes, and help commanders allocate finite interceptors.
The Block II also creates room for AI-assisted track correlation, anomaly detection, adaptive radar scheduling and electronic warfare analysis, but these functions will support rather than replace the crew because target identification, rules of engagement and weapon release decisions remain command responsibilities. The three FY2026 aircraft are expected to enter the Block II configuration during production and reach delivery in 2030, while retrofit kit procurement is planned to begin in FY2028. Aircraft already in service will need to be withdrawn in batches, modified, tested, and returned to their units, which limits how quickly the fleet can reach a common standard. In 2026, 80 E-2Ds were identified as operational, including 68 in the U.S. Navy and 12 in the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
The United States had another 11 aircraft on order, Japan six, and France three. The French aircraft are being built for delivery in 2027 and will replace three E-2Cs aged between 22 and 28 years. The U.S. FY2027 budget request also included $2 billion for six more E-2Ds, equal to an average procurement allocation of roughly $333 million per aircraft before separating support, spares, and non-recurring costs. Continued production would subsequently reduce the risk of a line interruption and increase the number of aircraft available for Block II incorporation without withdrawing operational aircraft. The Block II is also intended to support further radar and networking changes that the existing computers could not absorb efficiently.
One candidate is Lockheed Martin’s Digital Radar Exciter Receiver, a software-defined replacement for legacy radar exciter and receiver hardware. DREXR is intended to provide wider bandwidth, more independent control of radar elements, and the ability to introduce new waveforms through software rather than by redesigning the complete sensor. These improvements would increase raw data volume and signal-processing requirements, which is why the US Navy is replacing the mission computers before fielding a more demanding radar configuration on an E-2D. The same architecture could support new communications waveforms, electronic support applications, automatic target recognition algorithms, cybersecurity updates, and changes required by future joint command networks.
Written by Jérôme Brahy
Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.
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On July 22, 2026, the U.S. Navy awarded Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. a $1.196 billion contract for the production, delivery, and support of three new-build E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II aircraft. Issued by Naval Air Systems Command with $583.394 million in FY2026 aircraft procurement funding obligated at award, the undefinitized agreement establishes the primary procurement path for production-line Block II airframes. The upgrade integrates a Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) mission computing suite to expand real-time signal processing and automated target tracking across complex carrier strike group operational environments.
Under the $1.196 billion undefinitized cost-no-fee contract, Northrop Grumman will manufacture and support three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II aircraft through December 2031, backed by an initial $583.394 million obligation. The Block II baseline replaces legacy mission processing hardware with scalable commercial off-the-shelf architecture to enhance data fusion across AN/APY-9 radar, Cooperative Engagement Capability, and joint datalink networks.
Related topic: French Navy executes first triple E-2C Hawkeye launch to secure airspace around Charles de Gaulle carrier
The E-2D Hawkeye Block II upgrades the aircraft with far more powerful computing and an open architecture, allowing it to process vastly larger amounts of sensor data, integrate future technologies more easily, and remain effective against increasingly complex threats (Picture source: US Navy)
On July 22, 2026, the US Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a contract with a ceiling value of $1.196 billion for three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II early warning aircraft, associated production work, and support through December 2031. The US Navy obligated $583.394 million in FY2026 aircraft procurement funding at award, equal to 48.8% of the maximum contract value, leaving the remaining amount to be negotiated and funded as production, integration, and support requirements are finalized. The agreement is a cost, no-fee undefinitized contract, allowing Northrop Grumman to begin work before the Navy and contractor settle all final terms.
The three aircraft are expected to be the first new-build E-2Ds equipped with the Block II upgrade, in parallel with the $845 million contract awarded in September 2023 to upgrade several E-2Ds already in service. Flight testing is planned to begin in 2028, the first three production aircraft are said to be delivered in 2030, and the US Navy intends to introduce the new standard operationally before the end of the decade. The E-2 Advanced Hawkeye is a carrier-based airborne early warning and battle-management aircraft measuring 17.6 m in length, with a 24.6 m wingspan, for a maximum takeoff weight of 26,082 kg. Two Rolls-Royce T56-A-427A turboprops, each rated at 5,100 shp, drive eight-bladed propellers and support a speed above 300 knots and a service ceiling of 37,000 ft.
Its five-person crew consists of two pilots and three mission-system operators, although the co-pilot can act as a tactical fourth operator and access selected radar, identification and datalink functions from the cockpit. Later-production aircraft incorporate aerial refueling, upgraded fuel system components, endurance seats and external lighting for extended missions. Without tanker support, an operational sortie commonly lasts more than five hours; aerial refueling can extend this beyond eight hours, after which crew fatigue, maintenance limits and carrier-cycle planning become more important than fuel quantity. A carrier air wing normally operates five E-2Ds, which is sufficient to maintain one aircraft on station only if the remainder are divided among launch preparation, recovery, refueling, maintenance and reserve status.
The E-2D’s principal sensor is the AN/APY-9 UHF active electronically scanned array radar housed in the rotating 7.3 m rotodome above the fuselage. Unlike a fixed AESA installation, the AN/APY-9 combines electronic beam steering with mechanical rotation, allowing continuous 360-degree coverage while electronically concentrating radar energy on sectors or targets requiring more frequent updates. The sensor can support surveillance against aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned systems, surface contacts, and ballistic missile trajectories over maritime, land, and coastal environments. Available figures credit the aircraft with the capacity to maintain more than 2,000 tracks and detect targets beyond 550 km under favorable conditions, which may determine whether the US Navy launches fighters, repositions combat air patrols, or authorizes ship-launched interceptors before the threat arrives.
The aircraft’s mission crew also manages identification, assigns intercepts, coordinates tankers and electronic attack aircraft, monitors air wing movements, and controls congested airspace around an aircraft carrier. The current E-2D already processes several independent data streams that operate at different update rates and levels of precision. The AN/APY-9 generates primary radar tracks, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment contributes identity data, electronic support systems detect emissions, satellite communications connect the aircraft with command nodes, and tactical datalinks exchange tracks and orders with aircraft and ships. Link 16 provides a standardized tactical picture but is constrained by network capacity and time-slot allocation.
Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) supports faster, higher-capacity exchanges among compatible aircraft, while Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) transmits higher-quality sensor data suitable for forming composite tracks. The mission computer must decide whether multiple inputs correspond to one object, whether identities conflict, which source has the best positional accuracy, and which track should be treated as a priority threat. This is central to the US Navy’s Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA), because the E-2D can detect a target beyond the radar horizon of an Aegis ship and provide early cueing for an SM-6 engagement, or direct F/A-18E/F and F-35C fighters toward an intercept without requiring them to radiate continuously.
It can also receive information from F-35 sensors operating closer to the threat, correlate that data with the AN/APY-9 picture and redistribute the result to ships, aircraft and command centers. Other potential participants include EA-18G Growlers, P-8A Poseidons, MQ-25 Stingrays, U.S. Marine Corps sensors, U.S. Army IBCS units and allied networks. The limiting factor is increasingly the rate at which the aircraft can ingest, compare, validate and distribute this information, particularly during operations involving hundreds of tracks, intermittent communications and electronic attack. Therefore, the Block II upgrade, previously known as the Delta System Software Configuration, represents a combined hardware and software overhaul of the E-2D’s mission computers, cockpit equipment, operator displays and internal interfaces.
The new computers provide greater processing throughput, larger working memory, increased storage, faster internal data transfer and additional input-output capacity. The architecture also adopts Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) principles and greater use of commercial off-the-shelf hardware, reducing dependence on unique processors and interfaces that become difficult to replace when suppliers discontinue production. New standardized interfaces allow a software application, communications module, or processor card to be changed without redesigning the complete mission system. This matters because military avionics upgrades often spend years in integration and certification even when the new capability itself is comparatively limited. Block II is intended to reduce that burden by separating functions into more replaceable modules and by providing sufficient computing reserve for capabilities not yet defined.
New cockpit and mission displays will also change how operators arrange radar tracks, identification data, weapon status and network information, while software resiliency and cybersecurity are being strengthened for operations under jamming, network disruption and attempted intrusion. The operational purpose of this additional computing capacity is to reduce the time and manpower required to convert raw sensor inputs into a usable engagement picture. During a dense raid, the E-2D may receive radar observations of the same target from the AN/APY-9, an Aegis ship, an F-35 and another airborne sensor, while simultaneously receiving IFF responses, electronic emissions and Link 16 tracks. The mission system must correlate these inputs, remove duplicates, estimate track quality and determine whether inconsistent data results from sensor error, jamming, deception or the presence of multiple closely spaced targets.
The Block II is consequently expected to expand automatic track management, target classification, confidence scoring and prioritization, allowing the crew to focus on decisions rather than manual data reconciliation. The difference becomes important during attacks like those carried out by Iran or Russia, involving dozens of cruise missiles or UAVs, when a display filled with uncorrelated returns can consume operator attention and delay weapon assignment. A 100-drone raid, for example, may include kamikaze drones, decoys, and reconnaissance drones approaching from several altitudes and directions and triggers reactions from civilian and friendly air forces. The E-2D must separate these threats from friendly aircraft and civilian traffic, group them by behavior, identify the most dangerous axes, and help commanders allocate finite interceptors.
The Block II also creates room for AI-assisted track correlation, anomaly detection, adaptive radar scheduling and electronic warfare analysis, but these functions will support rather than replace the crew because target identification, rules of engagement and weapon release decisions remain command responsibilities. The three FY2026 aircraft are expected to enter the Block II configuration during production and reach delivery in 2030, while retrofit kit procurement is planned to begin in FY2028. Aircraft already in service will need to be withdrawn in batches, modified, tested, and returned to their units, which limits how quickly the fleet can reach a common standard. In 2026, 80 E-2Ds were identified as operational, including 68 in the U.S. Navy and 12 in the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
The United States had another 11 aircraft on order, Japan six, and France three. The French aircraft are being built for delivery in 2027 and will replace three E-2Cs aged between 22 and 28 years. The U.S. FY2027 budget request also included $2 billion for six more E-2Ds, equal to an average procurement allocation of roughly $333 million per aircraft before separating support, spares, and non-recurring costs. Continued production would subsequently reduce the risk of a line interruption and increase the number of aircraft available for Block II incorporation without withdrawing operational aircraft. The Block II is also intended to support further radar and networking changes that the existing computers could not absorb efficiently.
One candidate is Lockheed Martin’s Digital Radar Exciter Receiver, a software-defined replacement for legacy radar exciter and receiver hardware. DREXR is intended to provide wider bandwidth, more independent control of radar elements, and the ability to introduce new waveforms through software rather than by redesigning the complete sensor. These improvements would increase raw data volume and signal-processing requirements, which is why the US Navy is replacing the mission computers before fielding a more demanding radar configuration on an E-2D. The same architecture could support new communications waveforms, electronic support applications, automatic target recognition algorithms, cybersecurity updates, and changes required by future joint command networks.
Written by Jérôme Brahy
Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.
Explore More Defense News
• Land Defense News
• Naval Defense News
• Defense Aerospace News
