Article Posted on : - Sep 14, 2009

An official photo of advanced Hawkeye E-2D.

NEW DELHI (BNS): Paving way for yet another high-end technology system for India, the US government has approved the sale of Hawkeye E-2D aircraft for Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and battle management for the Indian Navy, a defence journal here has reported.

The Indian Navy is likely to receive the very latest �futuristic� shipboard Hawkeye E-2D aircraft within three years of signing a contract with the aircraft�s manufacturer Northrop Grumman, according to a report in the India Strategic defence journal.

The Indian Navy has already placed an order for eight P 8I Maritime Multi-mission Aircraft being produced by US defence major Boeing.

The Hawkeye E-2D aircraft has �just been cleared by the US government for India and a presentation has been made to the Indian Navy in August in New Delhi,� the magazine, quoting Northrop Grumman's programme Manager for International Business Development Tom C. Trudell, said.

Following the clearance to sale the sophisticated system � which is likely to be inducted in the US Navy by 2011 � India has become only the second country after UAE to get the US State and Defence Departments� approval to get the technology.

Earlier, the US had offered to sale the previous version of the aircraft � Hawkeye E-2C � which the Indian Navy had turned down, the magazine said.

�Indian Navy officers had witnessed the capabilities of the Hawkeye E-2C but told the US officials that as the equipment it would buy would be used for years, it must be the best and the latest with future capability insertion potential,� the report said.

However, neither the Gorhkov aircraft carrier that India is getting from Russia, nor its indigenously-built carrier � INS Arihant � would be able to house the US-made Hawkeye, the report said, adding that future aircraft carriers to be inducted in the Indian Navy would accommodate the aircraft.

�By the time this aircraft comes, and by the time the Indian Navy gets used to it from initial shore-based operations, plans for two more aircraft carriers could be amended to house this system,� the report quoting anonymous officials said.