BETHPAGE, N.Y., March 7, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- E-2C Hawkeye operators from six nations gathered for the first time this week to share operational experiences and learn about future development plans for this airborne early warning aircraft built by Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Integrated Systems sector.
The first Hawkeye Users Conference was hosted by Integrated Systems, the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command and the Hawkeye Industry Team.
Approximately 120 representatives of the U.S. and French navies, the Egyptian, Singaporean and Taiwanese air forces and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force participated in the four-day conference, which ended March 7. The conference took place in San Diego, Calif., and included briefings on all aspects of Hawkeye operations and support, including new capabilities being planned.
"The E-2C Hawkeye will be serving our nations for a long, long time," said Capt. Lee Lilly, the U.S. Navy's Hawkeye program manager. "The U.S. Navy has a detailed roadmap for Hawkeye system development through the new Radar Modernization Program. We didn't have a forum to communicate that roadmap to our partners until now. From my viewpoint we accomplished our mission and more this week."
"The Hawkeye is a powerful network-centric warfare system with a user community that spans the globe. It was only logical that we integrate the community of program managers, manufacturers, operators and maintainers into a living, breathing network," said John E. Michaelsen, Airborne Early Warning Integrated Product Team vice president for Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems. "This first gathering focused years of experience and the range of working environments. We learned much from each other."
In addition to representatives from user nations, members of the Hawkeye Industry Team also participated. The team includes Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems, Syracuse, N.Y.; Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Baltimore, Md.; Raytheon Company, El Segundo, Calif.; BAE Systems, (formerly Hazeltine), Greenlawn, N.Y.; and L-3 Communications Randtron Antenna Systems, Menlo Park, Calif.
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a premier aerospace systems integration enterprise. Integrated Systems has the capabilities to design, develop, integrate, produce and support complete systems, as well as airframe subsystems, for airborne surveillance and battle management, early warning, airborne electronic warfare and air combat aircraft. It is also integrating these capabilities for emerging network-centric warfare concepts.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an $18 billion, global defense company with its worldwide headquarters in Los Angeles. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in defense and commercial electronics, systems integration, information technology and nuclear and non-nuclear shipbuilding and systems. With nearly 100,000 employees and operations in 44 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.
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