rare model for collectors The E-2C Hawkeye is the U.S. Navy’s primary carrier-based airborne early warning and command and control aircraft. The twin turboprop Hawkeye shares its basic airframe with the C-2 Greyhound but is fitted with a 24-foot rotating radome housing an APS-145 (some have the APS-139 radar). The first aircraft to perform this mission was the Grumman E-1 Tracer (a variant of the S-2 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft), which saw service from 1954 to 1964. The E-1's successor, the E-2 Hawkeye, was the first carrier-based aircraft designed from the outset for the all-weather airborne early warning and command and control mission. Since replacing the E-1 in 1964, the Hawkeye has been the "eyes of the fleet." Since its combat debut during the Vietnam conflict, the E-2 has served the Navy around the world.