US Navy approves E-2D Delta System Software Configuration 6 preliminary design review

An E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, attached to the ‘Seahawks' of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 126, prepares to take off from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75) on 21 October 2024. (US Navy)

The US Navy (USN) has approved Northrop Grumman's preliminary design review (PDR) of Delta System Software Configuration (DSSC) 6, a suite of new equipment and capabilities eventually intended to roll out to the full E-2D Hawkeye fleet, according to a 6 November statement by the navy.

The PDR culminated in a briefing to a 10-member Technical Review Board from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland, the USN's primary aviation test base.

The PDR “represents a major programmatic milestone in the acquisition of technology key to maintaining carrier-based airborne command-and-control (C2) dominance well into the next decade”, said Lieutenant Commander Neil Whitesell, the navy's programme manager for DSSC 6 at PMA-231, the USN squadron responsible for testing E-2D modifications.

No major changes to the configuration occurred between initiation and PDR, Northrop Grumman told Janes on 13 November.

DSSC 6 updates the E-2D with a new General Dynamics-built mission computer with greater processing and storage capacities, allows for greater connectivity between the Hawkeye and external networks, and prepares onboard systems for modular open systems architecture – although no third-party hardware or software has yet been selected to accompany the upgrade, the USN told Janes on 13 November.