E-2D radar upgraded

The U.S. Navy’s E-2D Hawkeye just finished flight tests with a new radar electronics package meant to sharpen what crews can see and track from the air. (lockheedmartin.com) Think of the E-2D as a flying radar and battle-management post: it carries the AN/APY-9 radar in the round rotodome above the fuselage and feeds a shared picture to ships, fighters, and joint forces. NAVAIR says the E-2D is the newest Hawkeye variant, and Northrop Grumman says it provides continuous 360-degree coverage. (navair.navy.mil) (northropgrumman.com) The upgrade is called the Digital Receiver Exciter Recorder, or DREXR. Lockheed Martin said on April 21 that flight testing with Northrop Grumman validated wideband transmit-and-receive functions, per-element independent transmit, and software-defined waveform functions. (lockheedmartin.com) (naval-technology.com) In plain terms, that means the radar can send and process signals with more flexibility, like swapping tools in software instead of rebuilding hardware. Lockheed says the change is meant to improve detection, tracking, and threat handling in contested and austere environments. (lockheedmartin.com) (thedefensepost.com) That matters because the E-2D is not just looking for targets; it helps direct the fight for a carrier strike group. Lockheed says the upgrade is aimed at improving sensor fidelity for carrier battle management and offboard cueing, where one platform detects a threat and another fires on it. (lockheedmartin.com 1) (lockheedmartin.com 2) The APY-9 radar already combines mechanical rotation with electronic scanning, which lets crews keep 360-degree coverage while updating tracks faster in a selected sector. Lockheed says the radar is designed to detect small, highly maneuverable targets in dense littoral and overland environments, and the Pentagon’s test office says the E-2D is built to track air and surface targets over blue water, coastlines, and land. (lockheedmartin.com) (dote.osd.mil) Northrop Grumman describes the Hawkeye line as more than 60 years old, with the E-2D as the latest version of the Navy’s airborne command-and-control aircraft. NAVAIR says the E-2D brought a two-generation leap in radar capability over earlier variants. (northropgrumman.com) (navair.navy.mil) The companies did not publish a fielding date in the April 21 announcement, but the completed flight-test phase moves the upgrade from lab claims to airborne validation. For the Navy, that keeps the Hawkeye in its usual role: the aircraft orbiting above the carrier group, building the picture before anyone else can. (lockheedmartin.com) (navaltoday.com)