To sustain 28 aircraft, the program office is focused on ensuring there are 37 available E-2D aircraft out of the total inventory of 46.
The E-2D community reached its mission capable goal five months ahead of schedule recently thanks to efforts made by the E-2/C-2 Airborne Command & Control Systems Program Office (PMA-231) and the Airborne Command & Control Logistics Wing (ACCLOGWING).
“The F/A-18 and EA-18G have been a major focus of the Navy to significantly increase mission capability in the last several years. Now it’s time for the E-2D to step into the spotlight and take lessons learned from these other successful programs and the [Naval Sustainment System-Aviation], and integrate them into our own mission capable aircraft campaign,” said Capt. Pete Arrobio, PMA-231 program manager in NAVAIR news release.
PMA-231 and ACCLOGWING launched the Naval Sustainment System-Aviation (NSS-A) efforts in 2020 to improve E-2D aircraft readiness with a goal to sustain 28 Mission Capable (MC) and 22 Fully Mission Capable (FMC) aircraft. The first objective of 28 MC E-2D was met for the first time on Feb. 3, 2021 five months ahead the planned target completion of Jul. 1.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck effort across our community to reach, sustain and surpass 28 MC while, at the same time, getting after FMC,” said Arrobio.
Over the last month, 28 MC E-2Ds were available on average, which represents a significant accomplishment, said Arrobio, adding that they are moving towards sustaining and having sufficient amounts of spares on shelf to meet the Fleet’s need.
To sustain 28 aircraft, the program office is focused on ensuring there are 37 available E-2D aircraft out of the total inventory of 46. This number excludes aircraft in Planned Maintenance Interval (PMI) I, PMI II, Aerial Refueling (AR) modifications and additional planned modifications for the E-2D aircraft.
Concurrently, while focusing on MC, the program office and ACCLOGWING are aggressively moving towards achieving the need for 22 FMC E-2Ds.
“The Navy invested in the E-2D because of the unique and critical warfighting capabilities it brings to the Navy and the Joint Force,” said Capt. Mike France, Airborne Command & Control and Logistics Wing commander. “Persistently maintaining 28 MC is an important milestone, but achieving 22 FMC E-2Ds sets the stage for us to win against adversaries. This is the critical number that supports deployed squadrons and high-end training.”
The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is a game changer in how the US Navy conducts battle management command and control. By serving as the “digital quarterback” to sweep ahead of strike, manage the mission, and keep our net-centric carrier battle groups out of harms way, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is the key to advancing the mission, no matter what it may be. The E-2D gives the warfighter expanded battlespace awareness, especially in the area of information operations delivering battle management, theater air and missile defense, and multiple sensor fusion capabilities in an airborne system.
Photo credit: U.S. Navy
