E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Delivered to Norfolk Naval Station

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew Bookwalter, Navy Public Affairs Support Element, East

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the Navy's newest airborne early warning and control aircraft, was delivered to the fleet July 29 at Naval Station Norfolk.

Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, accepted the Hawkeye on behalf of the Navy during a ceremony held on Chambers Field.

"It's going to be a game changer with information dominance for the U.S. Navy," Roughead said.

The Advanced Hawkeye, while not significantly changing the mission of early warning and control, will enable the aircraft to perform its mission with greater improvements. The new aircraft will be able to scan a larger area, detect smaller objects, process information faster. The aircrews will be able to accomplish these tasks through improved all glass cockpits and tactical operators stations.

"While the Advanced Hawkeye may look familiar, on the inside it is a totally new aircraft," said Gary Ervin, president of Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems Sector. "The systems represent a multi-generational leap in technology."

The advanced Hawkeye will go to Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 120, the "Greyhawks," first. They are the Navy's Fleet Replacement Squadron and will train pilots and Navy flight officers to fly and operate the new systems before assignment to an operational fleet squadron.

"Now it is up to Cmdr. Watkins and the 700 professionals of VAW 120 to push this aircraft to the limit and unlock its great potential," said Ervin. "The work they do will set up for a seamless transition to the fleet."

Like its predecessors, the E-2D is designed to last for many decades. Space has been left for advancement as new technology emerges.

"For longer than I have been in the Navy, the fleet has relied on the Hawkeye," said Vice Adm. Allen Myers, commander Naval Air Forces Pacific. "It's the first to launch and the last to recover on the flight deck, and has earned the reputation as the ears and eyes of the fleet."

AFRCC assists in search for downed helicopter in West Virginia

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center here coordinated efforts to locate a Navy helicopter from Naval Air Station Norfolk, Va., which crashed in a heavily wooded area near Lewisburg, W. Va., earlier this afternoon.

At approximately 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time today, controllers at AFRCC received a signal from a beacon aboard the helicopter. At about the same time AFRCC controllers also heard radio reports that a Navy helicopter, participating in an exercise in the area, had crashed.

Navy and Army helicopters participating in the exercise then began a search for the crash. The crash site was located at 4:25 p.m. ET. The status of the crew is unknown.

As the United States' inland search and rescue mission coordinator, the AFRCC serves as the single agency responsible for coordinating federal SAR activities in the 48 contiguous United States.

The rescue coordination center directly ties into the FAA's alerting system and the U.S. Mission Control Center. In addition to Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking information, the AFRCC computer system contains resource files that list federal and state organizations which can conduct or assist in SAR efforts throughout North America.

The AFRCC is part of 1st Air Force (Air Forces Northern), the designated air component for the U.S. Northern Command.