US deploys E-2D to Japan for protection of US carriers from China’s J-20 and J-31 Stealth Aircrafts and cruise missiles and monitor its activities in South China Sea

The US Navy announced  that it will deploy its leading-edge early-warning surveillance aircraft E2D to Japan in February. The Hawkeye will deploy from the USS Ronald Reagan, the aircraft carrier assigned to the Asia-based Seventh Fleet. The Hawkeye can detect cruise-missile and ballistic-missile launches from long range, potentially allowing for the missile to be redirected or shot down. The aircraft, can detect stealth aircraft like the Chinese Chengdu J-20 and the Russian Sukhoi T-50 as well as coordinate other ships and aircraft during combat. In a combat scenario, a Hawkeye can “act as a networked battle management platform, guiding other aircraft and ships to fire on incoming threats.”

The US Department of State has approved sale to Japan of four Northrop Grumman E-2D. The Japan’s nation-specific configuration, which includes a “wet wing” that will increase the endurance of the land-based aircraft from some 5h to 8h. This move could enhance protection of US and Japanese carriers from Stealth planes and cruise missiles of China. It would also strengthen the US-Japan Alliance to keep eye on Chinese activities in the region such as building of artificial islands in the South China Sea.