“Acquisition of the Global Hawk and Advanced Hawkeye by Japan would demonstrate trust in the alliance”
Sounds reasonable but at this juncture saying that will, ehhh, NOT have the desired effect. Keep the focus totally on the a/c.
Having been a DoD QA guy at Grumman Bethpage, and with the experience of climbing all through the E-2 airframe, both before and after ‘stuffing’ the airframe, I believe that the newer ‘D’ series would be the better investment.
Yes, the crew compartment is cramped (Red October movie scene is pretty accurate), but with all that electronic gear onboard, it has to go somewhere!
(oh, yes, there is just enough room for ‘that compartment of long aerial flight necessity’, 8 feet past the last console, right against the rear inner pressure dome, with plenty of room, if you are the size of a jockey!)