PAUL LEWIS / BETHPAGE
US Navy poised to award Northrop Grumman E-2C contract, but cannot justify replacing Rolls-Royce engine
Full-scale development of the Northrop Grumman E-2C Advanced Hawkeye is due to begin in May when the US Navy awards a radar modernisation programme (RMP) contract. The USN plans to spend $2.1 billion by 2012 on Advanced Hawkeye, half of which will be allocated to the new space-time adaptive radar being developed by Lockheed Martin, with partners Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems (ES) and Raytheon supplying the transmitter and receiver, respectively. The new L-3 Randtrom ADS-18 UHF antenna will rotate mechanically, but also scan electronically. It will also be able to slow or stop rotation while continuing to scan electronically.
RMP promises improved performance in countering clutter over land and in littoral areas, plus a doubling in range of the Lockheed Martin APS-145 radar.
A fixed UHF electronically steerable array (UESA) remains a future option, but technically is not mature or compact enough to fit the E-2C. "UESA is a technology programme, it is not a prototype. As it is currently architectured we would need a lot more transmitters on board," says Tom Williams, team leader and vice-president, Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems.
Northrop Grumman in the next few months expects to select suppliers for up to 30 work packages, including new 170kVA generators, IFF interrogator, ARC-210 radios mission computer and navigation system.
Advanced Hawkeye will also have a glass cockpit, compatible with civil global air traffic management systems and providing a fourth tactical display, for which Honeywell, L-3, Northrop Grumman ES and Smiths are competing.
The USN has been studying the use of a new turboprop, but funding and performance does not warrant replacing the existing Rolls-Royce T56-427, which is due to be upgraded with a new Hamilton Sundstrand/Ratier Figeac eight-blade propeller.
"The current engine meets the requirement. However, we are studying a little further to see if we can generate some lifecycle savings over the life of the aircraft if we were to invest in a new engine, but we're not currently programmed to do that," says Capt Bob Labelle, USN E-2 programme manager.
Source: Flight International
