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Briefing slides for E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (PDF)

From Flight International DATE:30/04/07 SOURCE:Flightglobal.com Northrop Grumman rolls out E2-D Advanced Hawkeye By Graham Warwick Northrop Grumman has rolled out the first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the latest version of the US Navy’s carrier-based airborne early warning aircraft. The first of two test aircraft was revealed at Northrop’s St Augustine, Florida plant. While externally similar to today’s E-2C, the E-2D has a new Lockheed Martin APY-9 radar with an L-3 Randtron rotodome antenna that combines mechanical rotation with electronic scanning. This provides 360º coverage while allowing operators to focus the radar on areas of interest. The E-2D also …

From Aviation Week Flight-Test Program Accelerates for U.S. Navy''s E-2D Apr 20, 2008 By David A. Fulghum Within three years, the U.S. Navy's fleet will have fielded the technology for precisely locating small, flying targets. The target set embraces some of the Navy's latest nightmares, including the next-generation of stealthy - sometimes supersonic - cruise missiles. Moreover, with the introduction of space-time adaptive processing (STAP) software, the hybrid APY-9 electronically scanned array (ESA) radar on board the new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will be able to pick those elusive flying targets out of a background of rough terrain and urban sprawl, a far di…

From Defense Aerospace Growler Zaps Through Initial Testing (Source: US Naval Air Systems Command; issued April 20, 2007) The Navy’s next-generation electronic warfare aircraft has completed the first phase of test and evaluation, and is set to receive hardware and a final build of software that will make it the world’s most capable aircraft of its kind. The EA-18G Growler has finished an ambitious regimen of flight tests since the arrival of Growler test prototype aircraft EA-2 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. in late November. The team has implemented a new concept of Integrated Test and Evaluation, concurrently completing both system developmenta…

From Flight International DATE: 08/07/08 SOURCE: Flight International EA-18G “Growler”: New platform and capabilities set to un-level the SEAD playing field By John Croft If the battlefield were an American football field, the US Navy's venerable but well-worn Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler might be thought of as an offensive lineman clearing the path for a running back carrying the ball. In this case, the Prowler's goal would be the suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) from a stand-off position using on-board electronic jammers to disrupt radar and communications, clearing the way for the navy, marines or air force strike forces to do their jobs. Th…

Find document here Continued employment of EA-6b or further development and investment in EA-18G? EA-6B should be able to meet USN SEAD requirements through 2017 and USMC through 2025 provided sufficient ICAP III electronic suites.

From Flight Global DATE: 03/03/09 SOURCE: Flight International US Air Force cancels SAM-jamming EB-52 for second time By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force's decision to terminate the EB-52 stand-off jammer concept for a second time deals a new blow to the US electronic warfare community. Maj Scott Fisher, an electronic warfare modernisation requirements officer for Air Combat Command, confirms that funding for the revived EB-52 core component jammer (CCJ) effort has been removed this year from long-term spending plans. The idea of equipping a subset of the Boeing B-52 bomber fleet with high-power, wing-tip jamming pods has been pursued for almost a de…

From Aviation Week GD Keeps EFV, But Program Redrawn Jun 8, 2007 Michael Bruno/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps will allow General Dynamics to keep the troubled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program, but the Corps will dramatically scale back its future orders and restructure the contract to address award fees among other concerns, officials told reporters June 7 at the Pentagon. The program now will seek only 573 EFVs, almost halved from 1,013 units previously, and officials have built in a delay of four to five years in the schedule. Milestone C approval is slated for mid-2011, instead of last January, and full…

The Navy’s Much-Hyped Electromagnetic Railgun May End Up Dead In The Water (Task & Purpose)

Electronic warfare role eyed for B-52 By Glenn W. Goodman Jr. October 11, 2005 ISRJournal The Air Force plans a return to the radar-jamming business, which it ceded to Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B Prowlers in 1998, when it retired its EF-111 Raven aircraft. This month, the service will select an industry lead systems integrator for its B-52 Stand-Off Jammer program, which will assign the venerable B-52H long-range bomber a new role. The aircraft, the last of which was delivered in 1962, will be fitted with two long outboard wing pods packed with powerful radar-jamming gear designed to disrupt enemy air defenses from beyond their lethal range. The…

From Navy Times Next-gen carrier launch system could be shelved By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Apr 6, 2009 15:46:34 EDT A decision point is looming for the Navy’s biggest shipbuilding project: whether to launch carrier aircraft using cutting-edge — but untried, over-budget and behind-schedule — electromagnetic technology, or return to heavy, bulky, maintenance-intensive steam catapult systems that offer proven reliability. Acting Navy Secretary B.J. Penn and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead are to be briefed in mid-April by service officials on the status of the electromagnetic aircraft launch system, which is to be instal…

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

From here, EMALS and other Ford-class problems, "Naval Air: 2USS Truman Gets Dent": https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/2025041502847.aspx#gsc.tab=0 Quote: "...EMALS less reliable than the older steam catapult. EMALS was also more labor intensive to operate and put more stress on launched aircraft than expected. Worse, due to a basic design flaw, if one EMALS catapult becomes inoperable, the other three catapults could not be used in the meantime as was the case with steam catapults. This meant that the older practice of taking one or more steam catapults offline for maintenance or repairs while at sea was not practical. The navy admitted that in …

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=69657 (h/t Alert 5)

From DefenseNews U.S. Navy's ERGM May Face Cancellation By william matthews Published: 20 Mar 15:55 EDT (11:55 GMT) For more than a dozen years the U.S. Navy has waited as Raytheon struggled to build a reliable rocket-powered munition to be fired from 5-inch guns on ships. After repeated test failures, years of delays and rising costs, the Navy may be ready to cancel the program. A Raytheon official acknowledged March 20 there were "many rumors swirling around" the fate of its Extended Range Guided Munition (ERGM) program, including the possibility that it will be canceled. A Navy official would not comment on the program's fate. The end for ERGM, if…

EU report warns of trouble in Arctic over resources Territorial claims and access to new trade routes must be addressed, briefing document notes; former U.S. Coast Guard official predicts armed conflict Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service Published: 1:32 am Edmonton Journal The coming "scramble for resources" in the melting Arctic poses a potential political crisis for northern countries -- including Canada -- says a new report by Europe's top two foreign policy officials. The warning is contained in a briefing document about the expected impacts of global climate change, prepared for a summit of 27 European heads of government in Brussels later this week. …

Evaluating Novel Threats to the Homeland: UAVs and Cruise Missiles A report from the RAND Corp found in PDF format here.

Expert: Navy Should Revise Outer Air Battle Concept (USNI News) I think I agree with him. As Harpoon will show you, if you're having to use your SM-2/-3/-6 to defend the battle group, you're already backpedaling. And you can't carry enough of them (or afford them).

Experts Question US Navy's Decision To Swap Out DDG 1000's Secondary Gun (DefenseNews)