C-2A Greyhound VRC-40 det IV Enterprise circa 1999
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- 1:48
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- Идеје
Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 ‘Rawhides’ or "COD Fish Airlines", were commissioned on July 1, 1960 and NAS (Naval Air Station) Chambers Field, Norfolk VA became their first ‘home’. Flying the Grumman C-1A Trader in the COD role, the ‘Rawhides’ flew the type for 30 years before transitioning onto the Northrop Grumman C-2A in April 1986 beginning their first logistic operations on the USS Nimitz a month later.
The Greyhound entered service with the US Navy in 1966, as a workhorse delivering supplies, mail and manpower to the floating cities that modern aircraft carriers have become. It is essentially a widened derivative of the E-2 Hawkeye, having a widened fuselage and a rear ramp for loading and unloading. Its wings and engines are the same as the Hawkeye, and the aircrafts wings fold in exactly the same way.
A reprocurement in 1984 led to the purchasing of 39 new airframes with various improvements in structure and avionics to replace the originals that were beginning to show their age. Latterly, a Service Life Extension Programme (SLEP) has led to them being scheduled to stay in service to 2027