Why did the plan for one airframe to replace the S-3, C-2, and E-2 not proceed?
Short answerMoney and politics; the Navy reconditioned E-2s and C-2s and retired the S-3 instead.
NotesA common platform could have served carrier ASW, cargo, and airborne-warning roles. Shared structure would reduce some development, training, maintenance, and supply burdens across the S-3, C-2, and E-2 families. Money and politics defeated the program. The Navy instead refurbished E-2s and C-2s while retiring S-3s. A later comment compares the all-role common-airframe impulse with the procurement logic that produced the Swordfish in the 1930s. The result preserved two missions but left carrier fixed-wing ASW without the intended successor.