E-2 Hawkeye plans for CVA-01

Would early E-2 Hawkeyes have served as trainers before later variants arrived for the Royal Navy?

The Royal Navy considered E-2s for CVA-01, but detailed variant and training arrangements would wait until the carrier program was actually ordered.

The original question mentions E-2A and E-2C purchases without initially specifying which navy. Alex first answers in an American context and corrects the chronology to a 1960 first flight and 1964 service introduction. His comparison is between early E-2As and much later E-2Ds, which retain a similar general appearance but differ substantially. The American discussion includes the hypothetical use of an aircraft for training if it could not operate as intended from carriers. Once the Royal Navy context is clarified, he says the E-2 interest depended on CVA-01 and that detailed arrangements awaited an actual carrier order.