The State Department has approved a potential $1.38 billion deal with Japan for the sale of up to five E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress on Tuesday of the new foreign military sale.
Along with the Northrop Grumman [NOC]-built E-2Ds, Japan would also receive 12 of Rolls-Royce’s T56 turboprop engines, six MIDS JTRS radio systems and five Lockheed Martin [LMT]-manufactured APY-9 radars.
“The proposed sale will improve Japan’s ability to effectively provide homeland defense utilizing an AEW&C capability. Japan will use the E-2D AHE aircraft to provide AEW&C situational awareness of air and naval activity in the Pacific region and to augment its existing E-2C Hawkeye AEW&C fleet,” the DSCA wrote in a statement.
In September 2018, the State Department approved a separate FMS with Japan for nine E-2Ds and associated equipment worth potentially $3.1 billion (Defense Daily, Sept. 10 2018).
Naval Air Systems Command then awarded Northrop Grumman a $1.36 billion contract modification in September 2019 to produce and deliver nine Japan-configuration E-2D aircraft (Defense Daily, Sept. 27 2019).