C-2 Greyhound
ICAO C2The aircraft that delivers mail, spares and people to aircraft carriers. Live C-2 Greyhound positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No C-2 Greyhound is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Grumman
- Role
- Carrier onboard delivery
- Class
- L2T — Landplane, 2 turboprop engines
- Crew
- 4
- First flight
- 18 November 1964
- In service
- 1966
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the C-2 Greyhound
Everything an aircraft carrier needs that cannot wait for a ship arrives on a C-2. It carries about ten tonnes or twenty-six passengers, lands on the deck with an arrestor hook, and has been the US Navy's carrier onboard delivery aircraft since 1966.
It shares its wing, engines and tail with the E-2 Hawkeye, which is why the two look so similar from behind — the same four-fin tail, forced on the design by carrier hangar height.
It is being replaced by the CMV-22B Osprey, which can reach a carrier without needing a runway at the other end. The remaining Greyhounds appear here occasionally on shore-based sectors.
Callsign prefixes
- NAVY
- US Navy logistics flights
- RAWHIDE
- A recurring carrier delivery block
How to recognise it
- —A high-wing twin turboprop with four vertical fins on the tailplane.
- —A deep, boxy fuselage with a rear ramp — much fatter than the E-2 it shares a wing with.
- —Folding wings, visible as a hinge line partway along each wing.
Common questions
+ What does carrier onboard delivery mean?
Moving people, mail, spare parts and priority cargo between shore bases and an aircraft carrier at sea. A carrier cannot pause for a supply ship every time an engine part is needed.
+ Is the C-2 related to the E-2 Hawkeye?
Closely. They share the wing, engines and tail. The C-2 has a widened fuselage with a ramp and no radar; the E-2 carries the rotating disc.
+ What is replacing the C-2?
The CMV-22B Osprey, a Navy tiltrotor version. It can deliver directly to ships without a runway at the origin, though it carries less.