The clearance has been described by diplomatic sources as a fallout of the “successful” visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently to India and the signing of the End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) of military equipment being supplied or sold by the US to India. Like the highly-advanced Boeing P-8I Maritime Multi-mission Aircraft (MMA), of which the Indian Navy has already ordered eight aircraft, the Hawkeye E-2D is the very latest and “futuristic” and is yet to be delivered to the US Navy.

India is the second country after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be cleared by the US State and Defense Departments for sale of this sophisticated system.

The US Navy has sanctioned $ 432 million for trials of the aircraft currently underway at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. The Naval Systems Command (NAVAIR) based there provides engineering and testing support for new naval systems and weapons. The aircraft is being tested from August 2007.

The Hawkeye E-2D has been under the US government’s consideration for India for some time. In fact, in 2007, sources in Washington had told this writer that the aircraft was being cleared, but apparently, the existing version, Hawkeye E-2C, was eventually offered to which the Indian Navy said ‘No’ in informal discussions.

Hawkeye E-2D looks much the same as a Hawkeye E-2C but is described by its producers as comfortably two generations ahead of its existing predecessor. Notably, Hawkeye E-2C was effectively deployed for surveillance and battle management in the 1986 US operations against Libya and later against Iraq in 1991 and 2003.

According to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), an organization set up by leading scientists in 1945 to warn the public and policy makers of benefits as well as potential dangers from scientific and technical advances in the wake of nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Libyan aircraft made 153 attempts to overfly the US fleet off its shores, but not one was successful, thanks to the monitoring by Hawkeyes, which directed carrier-based F-14 Tomcats to Libyan targets.

Technology on board the aircraft has grown since then due to new generations of sensors as well as real-time connectivity, which have otherwise also led to what is now called the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA).

Haweye E-2D is being manufactured by Northrop Grumman, a leading US player in Aerospace, Warships, Missiles, Combat Radars and Electronic Warfare systems.

Northrop Grumman’s programme Manager for International Business Development Tom C Trudell told India Strategic that the aircraft has “just been cleared by the US Government for India” and that a presentation was made to the Indian Navy late-August in New Delhi.

Indian Navy officers had witnessed the capabilities of the existing Hawkeye E 2C but told the US officials that as the equipment it would buy would be used for years, it must be the best and the latest with future capability insertion potential.

Indian Naval officials say that the technology onboard the Hawkeye E-2D is “very tempting” and that although neither the Gorshkov aircraft carrier which India is buying from Russia nor India’s first aircraft carrier indigenously being built would be able to accommodate this aircraft, India’s future aircraft carriers could be a little bigger.

“By the time this aircraft comes, and by the time the Indian Navy gets used to it from initial shore-based operations, plans for two more aircraft carriers could be amended to house this system.”

With three aircraft carriers projected to be acquired by the Indian Navy in the coming decade, and possibly also for use around island territories, India could have a total of four or five Hawkeyes for shipboard and shore-based operations. The aircraft would also be useful to cover the few nuclear-propelled and nuclear-armed submarines that India is building.

The US Navy however uses a squadron of four aircraft for each of its carrier battle groups.

It may be noted that if the Indian Navy decides to acquire this aircraft, it would require around two years for procedural clearance from the Ministry of Defence and a request to the US government for purchase under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. Then the manufacturer would need three years to deliver the first of the ordered number of aircraft.

There have been no tenders or RfPs yet for the Hawkeye E-2D, but then companies from worldwide present their wares to various countries either by themselves and at their own cost, or make offerings in response to Request for Information (RfI) which are floated in routine by all the armed forces to know what is available in terms of newer generation of systems.

Future aircraft carriers of the Indian Navy would also have to be equipped with catapult launching systems, for which it is already looking around. The catapult system had been developed by the British, but the technology is largely now with US companies.

India’s second and third aircraft carriers should have this facility along with lifts and adequate open area for what is called free deck takeoff.

The Mig 29Ks that the Indian Navy is buying for Gorshkov, will be launched by a ski ramp. Tip to tip, the Hawkeye is a bigger aircraft than the Mig 29.

Trudell said that although Northrop Grumman had been allowed to make presentations to the Indian Navy, its sale would have to be direct between the Indian and US governments under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. There are many systems on board, developed for and the cost of US Navy, which only the US Government can clear for transfer to other countries.

The US Navy has initially ordered five Hawkeye E-2Ds under a Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) programme, and the first aircraft should be delivered to the US Navy in 2011.

Hawkeye E-2D is equipped with Northrop Grumman’s APY-9 combat radar, which has the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) capability, much like what the Indian Air Force is looking for in its Medium Multi Role Combat Jet (M-MRCA) requirement. This technology is a derivative of what the US Air Force is using on its most advanced fighter aircraft, the F-22 Raptor.

Other systems onboard include satellite connectivity, an advanced mission computer with backup, improved engines, a new glass cockpit and midair refuelling capability. Although its rotodome would use electronic radar scanning, it would be moveable for better surveillance and multi-target engagement.

The existing version is believed to be capable of tracking more than 2000 targets up to 600 km. Details about the new aircraft are not officially available for publication.

Unlike the Boeing P-8I though, it would carry no weapons.

India can get the aircraft within three years of a contract being signed, said Trudell.

At present, Hawkeye variants are used by seven countries besides the US, namely, France, Taiwan, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Israel and Singapore.