Article Posted on : - Feb 04, 2011

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye makes its first takeoff from an aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. A US Navy photo.

ATLANTIC OCEAN (BNS): US Navy’s newest Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, has made its maiden flight from on board the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).

The latest aircraft from the E-2 Hawkeye family took off from the Nimitz-class supercarrier on February 1, according to the US Navy.

The navy personnel from Patuxent River, Maryland, aboard Truman will conduct suitability testing on the new aircraft.

The aircraft will go through a rigorous six-day testing period during which the squadron will determine whether the E2-D is effective in an operational shipboard environment, the Navy said.

"So far, the testing is going very well," flight test director, Cmdr. Mike Santomauro, said. "Through developmental tests we are moving toward making determinations of whether the aircraft is suitable for use."

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, which is an advancement over its predecessor the Hawkeve E-2C, has been developed by Northrop Grumman. The new features incorporated in the aircraft include the newly designed electronically scanned radar, AN/APY-9, with a matching suite of sensors, avionics, processors, software and glass cockpit,

The aircraft was delivered to the US Navy in July 2010 for aircrew testing.

The US Government, in 2009, had cleared the sale of this "futuristic" shipboard aircraft to India after the Indian Navy expressed interest to acquire them for its yet-to-be inducted aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya.