PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, Md. -- Capt. Randy Mahr, Advanced Hawkeye, program manager here, and the E-2D team can now add Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine’s top honor to their program’s successes.

Mahr and the E-2D team were honored with a 2008 Laureate award during a black-tie event March 4 at the Andrew Mellon auditorium in Washington, D.C.

“Looking around the room at the teams and attendees present, it is a privilege to have the Advanced Hawkeye program measured together with such excellence,” said Mahr, accepting the award on behalf of the Navy and Team Hawkeye. “We are proud to be this year’s recipient. The teamwork on this program has been remarkable.”

The AW&ST Laureates began 51 years ago as a vehicle to honor people who epitomize the values and visions of the global aerospace industry. Team Hawkeye was one of three nominees in the 2008 Military category.

“The intent is to recognize talent, hard work and ambitious leadership in the field. It is a big deal, because the winners are truly the best of the best and have made a large difference for aviation as a whole,” said Dave Fulghum, AW&ST senior military writer and presenter of the Military category Laureate.

In August 2007, the first Advanced Hawkeye flew on a date scheduled four years earlier. Today, there are two aircraft in flight test and a third and fourth on the production line. The digital, rotating electronically scanned array radar is operating in the lab and is flying in the E-2D and NC-130 test bed.

“The Hawkeye role has greatly expanded over the past 40 plus years,” said Mahr. “We have incrementally improved the aircraft's capabilities and stayed a step ahead of the threat. Over the past decade, technology made a monumental leap. Now, just as we use computers and cell phones in ways not originally envisioned, I believe the next generation of warriors will do the same when the Advanced Hawkeye takes its place on the carrier flight decks.”

Mahr said the E-2D is not an incremental step, but rather a forward leap.

“It is designed with inherent flexibility, is network ready and will be adaptable to whatever missions, doctrine and capabilities are needed well into this century. The capability of Navy-delivered airborne command and control will forever change when the digital quarterback, the E-2D, arrives over the battlefield in 2013.”

This year’s awards mark the largest Naval Air Systems Command showing in Laureate history with three naval officers as finalists in two categories.

Capt. Mathias Winter, program manger for PMA-201, Precision Strike Weapons, here, was also a nominee in the Military category; and Capt. Donald Gaddis was a nominee in the IT/Electronics category. Gaddis was nominated for his work during service as program manger for Program Manager Air-265, the Super Hornet program here. Gaddis is currently assigned to PMA-274, the Presidential Helicopter program here.

For more information about the Program Executive Office Tactical Aircraft, PMA-231 or PMA-265, please contact PEO(T) Public Affairs Office at 301-757-7178.

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