The answer to finding and killing stealthy, next-generation cruise missiles from the air may be about to take off, although the journey so far has been a little bumpy.

"A big reason the E-2D is happening is to be able to detect [small] targets over land," says James Culmo, Northrop Grumman vice president and program manager for airborne early warning (AEW) and battle management command and control networks. So, "it is significant in that the first time we flew [the radar] we detected targets over water and land out to ranges [still classified, that] we expected."

Because of the introduction of space-time adaptive processing (STAP) software, the hybrid APY-9 electronically-scanned array (ESA) radar aboard the new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will be able to pick those elusive flying targets out of a background of rough terrain and urban sprawl, a far different mission that the over-water detection capability of earlier Navy AEW and control aircraft.

Navy officials point out that analyses of the radar cross section of various targets will be done by other specialized aircraft like the EP-X, with its massive, active ESA (AESA) radar and advanced electronic surveillance arrays or even the carrier-based, F-35B/C Joint Strike Fighter.

The goal is "one piece of metal, one track," he says. "That means everyone is looking at a single picture. I'm going to have server capability on the E-2D that can maintain some historical piece of the picture. Other parts are going to be resident in ships and with ground forces. I am the central airborne piece."

But there's potential for future concerns.

"I may need to see more things [outside the range of the new radar]," says U.S. Navy Capt. Randy Mahr, program manager for the E-2D Hawkeye. "As we move into the world of unmanned and remote vehicles, we're going to have a large amount of sensor data available. How we're going to operate with those unmanned vehicles is not fully understood. In some way, every airborne platform will be integrated. That challenge is coming at us."

Meanwhile, Mahr is accelerating the schedule by increasing flight tests up to 4.6 hours from 2.5 hours. "We're doing well, flying missions and we're now within weeks of our original plan," he says.