Navy's E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Passes Test

The US Navy's new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye reconnaissance plane has passed its initial operational test and evaluation,and has entered the training phase.The aircraft is to be deployed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt(CVN 71) aircraft carrier next year.It builds upon an earlier version,the Cold War era E-2C.The new version upgrades target detection and tracking with extended range electronically-scanned radar.It also has better detection over land and the littorals,or shallow waters.*
Radar planes can see much farther out than ship-based radar.This allows the warfighter to minimise threats and hone battle plans.The E-2D's upgraded real time,on-scene capability improves early warning,command and control areas of strike,maritime awareness,border and coastal protection,air traffic control,search and rescue coordination and humanitarian assistance.*
Contractor Northrop Grumman says that,with a two-generational leap in radar sensor capability,the Advanced Hawkeye will deliver critical,actionable data to joint forces and first responders.These advances provide warfighters with the necessary situational awareness to compress the time between initial awareness and active engagement.*
The E-2D is crewed by two pilots and three naval flight officers.*
Northrop Grumman(NOC)

Veterans Day Honors

Aviation Boatswain Mate 3rd Class Daniel R. Verbeke of Exton,Pennsylvania died on 14 July of wounds received in December 2005 while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.A crewmember of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt(CVN 71),Petty Officer Verbeke was 25 at the time of his ultimate sacrifice.Exactly one month later,another Daniel,Private First Class Daniel A.C. McGuire, was killed in action on 14 August in Anbar Province,Iraq.Pfc.McGuire,of Mashpee,Massachusetts,was a member of 3rd Battalion,6th Marine Regiment,2nd Marine Division,2nd Marine Expeditionary Force,based at Camp Lejeune,North Carolina.He was 19 years old when he died for his friends.