Grumman E-1B TRACER

The Grumman E-1B Tracer was the first AEW aircraft used by the US Navy and entered service in 1958 for air control and navigation tasks. It mounted the Hazeltine AN / APS-82 radar, both in a radome and in the fuselage that together with the AMTI system (Airborne Moving Target Indicator), allowed to differentiate flying aircrafts from the reflections caused by the waves of sea. The antenna had a diameter of 5.33m and could detect aircrafts at maximum distances of about 480 km. The antisubmarine aircraft S-2 Tracker was used as basis to this model, and was always considered an interim aircraft in the US Navy, although it participated in the early phases of the Vietnam War with useful control missions for air combat patrols, (CAPs), and control of Alpha bombing missions on North Vietnam. It was gradually replaced by themore successful E-2C Hawkeye since the mid-1960s, although it remained in service until 1977.

E-1B TRACER gallery and more info