Features: The Hawkeye provides all-weather airborne early warning and command and control functions for the carrier battle group. Additional missions include surface surveillance coordination, strike and interceptor control, search and rescue guidance and communications relay. An integral component of the carrier air wing, the E-2C uses computerized sensors to provide early warning, threat analyses and control of counteraction against air and surface targets.
Background: Carrier-based E-2C Hawkeyes directed F-14 Tomcat fighters flying combat air patrol during the two-carrier battle group joint strike against terrorist-related Libyan targets
in 1986. E-2Cs and AEGIS cruisers, working together, provided total air mass superiority over the American fleet.
More recently, E-2Cs provided the command and control for successful operations during the Persian Gulf War, directing both land attack and combat air patrol missions over Iraq and providing control for the shoot-down of two Iraqi MIG-21 aircraft by carrier-based F/A-18s in the early days of the war.
E-2 aircraft also have worked extremely effectively with U.S. law enforcement agencies in drug interdictions.
E-2C aircraft entered U.S. Navy service with Airborne Early Warning Squadron 123 at NAS Norfolk, Va., in November 1973.
Features: The C-2A Greyhound provides critical logistics support to aircraft carriers. Its primary mission is carrier on-board delivery. Powered by two T-6 turboprop engines, the C-2A can deliver a payload of up to 10,000 pounds. The cabin can readily accommodate cargo, passengers or both. It is also equipped to accept litter patients in medical evacuation missions.
Priority cargo such as jet engines can be transported from shore to ship in a matter of hours. A cage system or transport stand provides cargo restraint for loads during carrier launch or landing. The large aft cargo ramp and door and a powered winch allow straight-in rear cargo loading and downloading for fast turnaround.
The C-2A's open-ramp flight capability allows airdrop of supplies and personnel from a carrier-launched aircraft. This, plus its folding wings and an on-board auxiliary power unit for engine starting and
ground power self-sufficiency in remote areas provide an operational versatility found in no other cargo aircraft.
Background: The original C-2A aircraft were overhauled, and their operational life extended, in 1973. In 1984, a contract was awarded for 39 new C-2A aircraft to replace earlier the airframes. Dubbed the Reprocured C-2A due to the similarity to the original, the new aircraft include substantial improvements in
airframe and avionic systems. All the older C-2As were phased out in 1987, and the last of the new models was delivered in 1990. During the period November 1985 to February 1987, VR-24, operating with seven Reprocured C-2As, demonstrated exceptional operational readiness while delivering two million pounds of cargo, two million pounds of mail and 14,000 passengers in support of the European and Mediterranean theatres.
