E2C Hawkeye The Grumman E2 Hawkeye is an airborne early warning AEW aircraft carrier The twinturboprop airplane was designed & developed during the late 1950s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy as a replacement for the E1 Tracer The first E2C became operational in 1973 & has been upgraded many times since The Hawkeye 2000 the current version has an APS145 radar with new mission computer & Combat Information Center CIC as well as the US Navys new CEC data transmission system Since entering combat during the Vietnam War the E2 has served the US Navy around the world Hawkeyes from the air wing VAW123 also known as the Screwtops aboard the aircraft carrier USS America directed a group of F14 Tomcat fighters during Operation El Dorado Canyon the joint strike against Libyan terrorist targets during 1986 More recently the E2 Cs provided the command & control for both aerial warfare & landattack mission during the Desert Storm & Enduring Freedom missions Decals for 2 versions