Northrop Grumman's E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Successfully Completes First Catapult Launch Tests

In preparation for its Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E), Northrop Grumman's first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye test aircraft, known as Delta One, has successfully completed its first land-based catapult launch tests - a required phase of testing prior to fleet introduction.

Both E-2D System Development and Demonstration (SDD) aircraft, Delta One and Delta Two, are currently undergoing shore-based carrier suitability testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., conducted by the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 (VX-20).

"Since transitioning to NAS Pax River from our East Coast Aircraft Manufacturing and Flight Test Center in St. Augustine, Fla., earlier this year, both E-2D SDD aircraft have been performing well," said Jim Culmo, Northrop Grumman vice president of Airborne Early Warning and Battle Management Command and Control Programs.

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