Northrop Grumman to deliver Hawkeye E-2D AEW aircraft to India

India gradually increased its military cooperation with USA. The latest India-U.S. defense deal is the sale of this Airborne Early Warning aircraft, Hawkeye E-2D, developed by American arms manufacturer, Northrop Grumman. Woolf Gross, the corporate director at the company, says the reconnaissance plane has yet to be introduced in the U.S. Navy. Its sale to India, he says, is a symbol of how close India/U.S. military relations are. "So they [the Indians] could have advanced Hawkeyes in India about the same time that the U.S. Navy becomes fully operational with the same aircraft," he explained. During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India in July, the two countries agreed on the terms of such high technology sales to India. India's Ambassador to Washington, Meera Shankar is optimistic about future cooperation. "Our militaries once unfamiliar with each other now hold regular dialog and joint exercises in the air and on land and sea. We coordinate anti-piracy efforts and have worked together on humanitarian missions. Our defense trade was negligible a decade ago. We placed orders worth $3.5 billion last year and it could grow even more in the future," Shankar said. Since joint exercises between the two countries are expected to grow, it is better for India to buy equipment that is compatible with the U.S. military, says Walter Andersen at Johns Hopkins University. He says India imports most of its oil and gas and other merchandise by sea, and India is in favor of holding more joint naval exercises. "And there is real and present danger from growing threats of piracy both on the eastern and western ends of the sea lanes coming out of the Strait of Hormuz carrying oil and gas. And also on the Horn of Africa as well as the Somalia coast where there have been real problems," Andersen said.