Air Industries Group, through its Long Island-based subsidiary, Air Industries Machining Corp., has been awarded a contract to produce landing gear and ancillary components for the US Navy’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.
As informed, the company will supply the aircraft with complete main and nose landing gear. The contract value is approximately $12.4 million with deliveries beginning next year. The contract is expected to be completed in 2024.
“ The E-2D and earlier variants of the aircraft have been an important platform at Air Industries for decades. The evolution of our E-2D product mirrors the development of our business over the years. We began producing individual parts for the landing gear as a Tier 2 supplier. Today we manufacture complete, ready to install, landing gear, as a Tier 1 supplier to the Original Equipment Manufacturer ,” Air Industries CEO Lou Melluzzo said.
The aircraft provides all-weather airborne early warning and command and control capabilities for all US Navy aircraft carrier battle groups. E-2 aircraft are also operated by several foreign militaries, including Japan which operates the latest E-2D variant.
US defense contractor Northrop Grumman Systems was contracted to build nine E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) aircraft for the government of Japan in 2019.
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In 2014, the Japanese Ministry of Defense competitively selected the E-2D to fulfill the nation’s AEW requirements. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force has operated the E-2C Hawkeye since 1983.
The contract to build the first Japanese Advanced Hawkeye was awarded to Northrop in January 2016.