Airborne Early Warning and Control
The need for a new airborne early warning and control (AEW) platform was identified at an early stage and was an integral part of the next-generation aircraft carrier, and the future carrier-borne aircraft plans. The programme became known as the "Future Organic Airborne Early Warning" (FOAEW), and contracts were placed with BAE / Northrop Grumman and Thales in April 2001. In April 2002, BAE and Northrop Grumman received a follow-on study contract for Phase II of the project, by then renamed Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (MASC).
In September 2005, the MASC assessment phase for an AEW aircraft to succeed the Sea King ASaC7 helicopter began. By May 2006, three study contracts were awarded for MASC platform and mission systems options: one to Lockheed Martin UK for a Merlin helicopter fitted with AEW mission systems, another to AgustaWestland who plan to maintain the present Sea King ASaC7 to 2017 and finally to Thales UK to upgrade the Sea King's mission systems.
However, it has been suggested that when the Sea Kings are retired, the MASC role could be undertaken by an AEW variant of the V-22 Osprey. If the carriers had been completed in a CATOBAR configuration, the E-2 Hawkeye could have been another option. This would have had greater speed and range, a more powerful radar than a helicopter-based system, and cross-deck interoperability with the United States and France.
Read more about this topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier, Carrier Air Group
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