Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) is essential for modern airpower. It detects and tracks aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and missiles at long ranges and quickly conveys this critical information to decision-makers. Northrop Grumman leads the industry in AEW&C, airborne battle management and advanced sensing, boasting deep experience and the technology to meet future demands.
Northrop Grumman’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye continuously outpaces evolving threats. (Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman)
Here are six ways Northrop Grumman leads in AEW&C innovation:
- Pioneering Naval AEW&C: Northrop Grumman built the E-1 Tracer, an early AEW&C aircraft used by the U.S. Navy. Leveraging deep naval aviation expertise and integrating powerful sensors and airborne moving target indicator technologies, the E-1 provided first-generation airborne early warning capabilities that set the bar for discriminating technologies and cutting-edge solutions that solve the most complex challenges.
- Digital Radar System Heritage: The company designed, built and modernized the AN/APY-1 and AN/APY-2 digital radars for the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft, used by the U.S. Air Force and international allies. By using an innovative digital system that can be programmed before each mission, the E-3 paved the way for future AEW&C aircraft equipped with even more powerful digital radar systems.
- Evolving Maritime AEW&C and Battle Management: Building on the company’s legacy of the E-1 Tracer, Northrop Grumman designed and built the combat-proven E-2 Hawkeye as the next generation of naval AEW&C. The early Hawkeyes took advantage of the latest radar, radio and electronic technologies. Today, with cutting-edge advanced networking, tactical targeting and electronic support capabilities, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye stands as the premier carrier-based AEW&C surveillance platform, protecting nations worldwide, including land-locked ones.
- Detecting Threats Farther with MESA: The ability to accurately detect and identify targets at increasingly longer ranges is critical to maintaining a decisive advantage. Northrop Grumman builds the powerful Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA), which provides mission crews with the capabilities required to track, identify and understand airborne, maritime and ground targets simultaneously. MESA’s advanced combat identification technology also enables operators to determine friend from foe in real time, enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making speed through constant surveillance.
- Unmatched Processing Power: Effective AEW&C requires top-tier processing power to quickly analyze and transform sensor data into actionable information within seconds. Northrop Grumman’s microelectronics power a wide variety of sensors and platforms, including the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and MESA for the E-7. Our three U.S.-based, government-accredited manufacturing facilities operate through an end-to-end process, including wafer fabrication and advanced packaging. Engineering millions of mission-critical microchips, we empower our forces to overcome present challenges and future threats, securing our nation’s military dominance.
- Trusted Interoperable Solutions: Northrop Grumman is laser-focused on meeting allies’ calls for increasingly advanced and interoperable AEW&C capabilities, making the company an international partner of choice. E-2 variants are in service with the United States, Japan, France, Egypt and Taiwan, while E-7s equipped with the MESA radar are operated by Australia, Turkey, and South Korea with the United Kingdom, United States and NATO to follow. When customers need trusted and reliable AEW&C capabilities, Northrop Grumman delivers.
Northrop Grumman’s MESA radar, carried by the E-7 AEW&C aircraft, provides long-range detection, robust threat performance and simultaneous air and maritime surveillance. (Photo Credit: U.S. Air National Guard)
Northrop Grumman embraces its history of challenging the status quo to push the boundary of what’s possible in AEW&C. With heavy demand for AEW&C and leading-edge battle management capabilities across the globe, the company’s solutions deliver rapid, actionable and reliable information for warfighters and are flexible to meet the demands of decision makers today and in the future. Together, the company’s aircraft, advanced sensors and technologies are trusted to deliver in the most critical missions, address surveillance and battle management gaps and consistently perform, ensuring western allies lead the world in military strength and innovation.
