Grumman S-2 Tracker (S2F)

History of the Grumman S-2 Tracker (S2F)

The Grumman S-2 Tracker was designed, developed and produced for the U.S. Navy at a time when aircraft carriers were taking their coats from battleships as the vanguard of naval operations and a national symbol of naval firepower. Aircraft carriers matured during World War II (1939-1945), making it possible to use massive air power against enemies anywhere in the world - as evidenced by the U.S.

Navy's record in conflicts, which allowed its forces to counterattack with Imperial Japan head-on confrontation, eventually gaining air superiority during the war. The carrier war proved crucial to Japan's surrender in August 1945.

At the end of the conflict, technology began to flourish, producing developments such as turbojets, sophisticated radar and sensor equipment, and entirely new aircraft.

While carrier fighters and fighters certainly provide the required offensive range, the ever-increasing storage space on newer carriers allows for the emergence of other specialized platforms. In late 1945, Grumman flew the first AF Guardian, the U.S. Navy's first "dedicated" anti-submarine (ASW) aircraft. It turned out to be a rather lanky attempt, with a crew of three or four and powered by a Pratt & Whitney radial piston engine (essentially looking like a heavily modified torpedo bomber).

Guardian was actually developed as a two-aircraft "system" comprising a submarine detection platform and a reactionary, attack-oriented platform - using a "hunt and kill" approach. Approximately 389 Guardian aircraft were eventually produced, which remained in service until August 1955.

Grumman begins work on a successor to the Guardian series, but this time with the aim of producing a single airframe solution for the US Navy. The company developed the "G-89 Type" prototype, a more traditional straight-wing fuselage with a four-person crew, twin-engine layout, and necessary carrier-friendly features (reinforced landing gear, elevated monoplane, Hinged hooks, folding wings, etc...). Prototypes for the US Navy received the designation "XS2F-1", two of which have completed testing.

The original XS2F-1 prototype flew for the first time on December 4, 1952, justifying the design. Fifteen evaluation quality aircraft (YS2F-1) were ordered, the first of which was delivered to VS-26 squadron in February 1954.

Externally, the S-2F Tracker uses a central fuselage and the cockpit is well maintained in the design, just aft of the short nose cone assembly. Visibility is provided by two front panel and side vents and a top window. The fuselage has a plate side and short wing roots mounted below the streamlined engine nacelles. Each wing provides three hardpoints outside the engine.

The aircraft uses powered tricycle landing gear, consisting of two main legs and a two-wheeled front leg (at rest, this arrangement gives the S-2 a distinct "nose-up" appearance). The rear spoiler is conventional in that it has a vertical spoiler and a pair of applicable horizontal spoilers.

The plane was flown by four people, with two pilots and two systems officers.

Type (S-2F) power is provided by 2 x Wright R-1820-82WA air-cooled radial piston engines, each delivering up to 1,525 hp, driving a three-bladed propeller assembly. This gives the airframe a top speed of 280 mph and a cruising speed of 150 mph.

The range is 1,350 miles and the maximum service is capped at 22,000 feet. All told, the S-2 can operate for about nine hours and provide consistent fighter capability against enemy submarines. During the Cold War, these were mainly for the Soviet Navy.

Because the S-2 was designed from the outset as a complete anti-submarine solution, US Navy and Grumman engineers ensured that the airframe could carry its own ammunition load. The aircraft is rated for up to 4,800 pounds of internal and external ammunition, including a large internal bomb bay in the bottom of the fuselage and six underwing hardpoints. Therefore, the S-2 was allowed to carry two internal torpedoes, or mines or depth charges instead.

Missiles can be installed under each wing as needed to attack service ships within range.

The initial production model was identified as the "S2F-1" tracker, and 740 were eventually produced. This subsequently spawned the S2F-1T trainer variant and the S2F-1 utility platform. Special equipment (JULIE/JEZEBEL detection system) welcomes S2F-1S and S2F-1S1 conversion models.

The S2F-1 was followed by the "S2F-2", which added an extended bomb bay section on the port side and modified the stern surface. About 77 of this type were produced.

Like the S2F-1, the S2F-2 airframe spawned additional operational models in the S2F-2P photo reconnaissance platform and the S2F-2U utility airframe. Featuring an improved forward fuselage, larger aft surface and increased internal volume for increased fuel storage, the series was reborn in "S2F-3", of which 100 were produced.

Professional equipment produced the S2F-3S, and they saw 252 complete examples.

In 1962, the U.S. military underwent a reorganization that completely rewrote the designation process for all aircraft (through the U.S. Tri-Service Aircraft Designation System) in an attempt to unify the designation systems for all three major branches. This resulted in the S2F series being renamed the "S-2F" designation and all previous variants being updated. S2F-1 became S-2A, S2F-1T became TS-2A, and so on.

S2F-1S is S-2B, S2F-2 is S-2C. The reconnaissance model was designated to use the "R" (RS-2C) and the utility version "U" (US-2C). S2F-3 became S-2D, S2F-3S became S-2E, S2F-1S1 became S-2F. As usual, Canadian production models (made by de Havilland Canada) have a "C" in front of each model. The "Turbo Tracker" series was developed in the later years and introduced the turboprop engine into the series.

Some of them are still in modern use.

The S-2 brought commercial success to Grumman as it served with many of the world's navies of the time. These include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela. Many people see second life as a firefighting platform in their post-retirement careers, as is the case in Canada, France and the United States. To date, the number of S-2 operators has continued to decline - the Taiwanese Navy maintains as many as 26 in service (2012), although these operators are officially scheduled to be replaced by modern P-3C Orion platforms.

Argentina and Brazil are the other two current S-2 operators.

1,284 S-??2 trackers were produced for all listed navies. The U.S. Navy used this model until 1976. The Grumman C-1 Trader and E-1 Tracer are derivatives of the U.S. Navy's S-2 airframe that were once used as carrier-based transport (COD) transports. The latter will serve as the U.S.

Navy's first purpose-built airborne early warning ( AEW) platforms are in service - both are decommissioned. The S-2 Tracker family itself was replaced in USN service in 1974 by the state-of-the-art twin-engine jet Lockheed S-2 "Viking".

But those carriers are now also out of operation due to expanded capabilities of aircraft such as the F/A-18 Super Hornet and P-3C Orion and the Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk Navy helicopter. Only 188 Vikings were produced.

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