Northrop Grumman recently commemorated its 30-year collaboration with empennage supplier Potez Aéronautique on the E-2 Hawkeye.
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Press Release, Aire-sur-l’Adour, 20 November 2025: Northrop Grumman Corporation recently commemorated its 30-year collaboration with empennage [tail assembly] supplier Potez Aéronautique on E-2 Airborne Command and Control aircraft programmes. This collaboration continues today with Potez producing empennages that will be fitted on E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft manufactured by Northrop Grumman for the French Navy.
- The ceremony hosted by Potez Aéronautique—which brought together representatives from the French Navy, the Direction Générale de l’armement and Northrop Grumman, marked the completion of the empennage that will be fitted on the French Navy’s first E-2D at Northrop Grumman’s St. Augustine, Fla. manufacturing facility.
- Northrop Grumman is contracted to produce three E-2D aircraft for the French Navy, the first of which is scheduled for delivery in 2027. Advanced Hawkeyes will replace France’s E-2C Hawkeye 2000 fleet, which has been in operation for over 25 years.
- Potez Aéronautique is a supplier for Northrop Grumman’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, manufacturing empennages for all E-2Ds produced for the United States and international customers, and has produced these components for E-2C Hawkeye variants. The company earned Northrop Grumman’s Performance Excellence Award in 2022.
“Our three-decade collaboration with Potez reflects our commitment to building global industrial partnerships,” said Janice Zilch, vice president of multi-domain command and control programmes at Northrop Grumman. “We look forward to providing the French Navy a generational leap in decision dominance with the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the world’s premier airborne command and control aircraft.”
Details on Programme: Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye 2000, which entered service with the French Navy in 1998, provides air defence and supports the Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group. France is the only country other than the US to operate its E-2C Hawkeyes from an aircraft carrier. This capability has enabled interoperability exercises that support Hawkeyes and other aircraft from the French and US fleets.
Northrop Grumman’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is the latest in a line of Airborne Early Warning aircraft that stretches back over 60 years. The E-2D is the world’s premier Airborne Command & Control aircraft, effective over land and sea. Northrop Grumman has evolved the E-2D into a cutting-edge platform, capable of facing threats anywhere in the world. E-2 variants are operated by Air Forces and Navies around the world. With an active production line and an excellent delivery history, the E-2D continues to introduce new technology to outpace ever-evolving threats.
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