The Navy awarded Northrop Grumman [NOC] a $404 million modification on April 1 to procure two E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft and various non-recurring support for the E-2D.

An E-2D Advanced Hawkeye assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), marking the first time an E-2D had landed aboard the Ford. CVN-78 is conducting aircraft compatibility testing to continued testing the EMALS and AAG launch and recovery systems. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

The Defense Department contract announcement noted this modification “contract options for non-recurring engineering and software support activities as well as product support for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye full rate production (FRP).”

The modification also procures the two E-2Ds, one each in full rate production Lots 8 and 9.

Work will mostly be split among St. Augustine, Fla. (22 percent); Liverpool, N.Y. (18 percent); Melbourne, Fla. (15 percent); Indianapolis (six percent); Menlo Park, Calif. (four percent); and various other locations largely within the continental U.S. The Navy expects the work to be finished by March 2025.

A total of $381 million in FY 2020 Navy aircraft procurement accounts and $23 million in FY 2019 Navy aircraft procurement accounts was obligated at time of award, with no funding set to expire at the end of this fiscal year.

Last year, the Navy awarded a $3.2 billion multi-year procurement contract to Northrop Grumman to buy 24 E-2Ds in Lots 7-11 (Defense Daily, April 11, 2019).

The E-2D is an all-weather Airborne Early Warning command and control aircraft that is replacing the legacy E-2C carrier airborne early warning squadrons.