US Navy approves E-2D Delta System Software Configuration 6 preliminary design review
Summary
An E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, attached to the ‘Seahawks of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 126, prepares to take off from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75) on 21 October 2024. The PDR culminated in a briefing to a 10-member Technical Review Board from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland, the USNs primary aviation test base. The PDR “represents a major programmatic milestone in the acquisition of technology key to maintaining carrier-based airborne command-and-control (C2) dominance well into the next decade”, said Lieutenant Commander Neil Whitesell, the navys programme manager for DSSC 6 at PMA-231, the USN squadron responsible for testing E-2D modifications. No major changes to the configuration occurred between initiation and PDR, Northrop Grumman told Janes on 13 November. DSSC 6 updates the E-2D with a new General Dynamics-built mission computer with greater processing and storage capacities, allows for greater connectivity between the Hawkeye and external networks, and prepares onboard systems for modular open systems architecture – although no third-party hardware or software has yet been selected to accompany the upgrade, the USN told Janes on 13 November.