Northrop Grumman’s E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (J-STARS) uses powerful ground-looking SAR radars mounted on a Boeing 707-300 airframe, in order to give American commanders outstanding battlefield surveillance and communications relay capabilities. The Alliance Ground System (AGS) aims to create a similar capability as a pooled NATO asset, based on a mix of smaller Airbus A321 airframes and RQ-4B Gobal Hawk UAVs, coupled with ground stations.

This will be DID’s FOCUS Article covering the AGS program, from its platforms to its program structure to its procurements. The most recent item is a decision for NATO regarding the main operating base for its RQ-4 Block 40 Global Hawk UAVs, even as the program appears to have been gutted by deleting its manned aircraft and advanced radar entirely…

The Need for AGS

Writing in (the now-defunct) eDefense Online, Polish Air Force and military intelligence veteran Michal Fiszer had this to say:

“The key to victory in modern conflict is informational superiority. The side that enjoys the highest degree of information superiority can maneuver its forces quickly and decisively to achieve tactical and operational advantage over its enemy. It can also precisely and effectively engage every vital element of the enemy’s forces to reduce their fighting capabilities to nil. To make a comparison to chess: Imagine that the side that achieves information superiority can see the chessboard and the pieces of both sides, whereas the other side has to play seeing only some of own pieces and having fragmentary information about the positions of his opponent’s pieces � mainly information about where they were a turn or two ago, as opposed to were they actually are.

Five elements are needed to achieve and exploit information superiority. The first is ability to see, and this requires effective intelligence, surveillance, target-acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities across the depth of the enemy’s echelons, seven days a week and 24 hours a day. The second element is the command, control, and communications (C3) network, built in accordance with the concept of network-centric warfare, with the ability not only to carry and distribute tremendous amounts of information to users in a timely way but also with the ability to merge (fuse) the collected information to create a common, recognized situation picture in all necessary areas: tactical, operational, logistic, personnel, etc., so that all friendly commanders are aware of all own and enemy forces. The third element is the ability to maneuver, to use the speed of ones own forces to take advantageous positions over the enemy, who is constantly observed. The fourth element is ability to conduct precision strikes against observed and tracked assets of the enemy’s forces that are the most vital to his war-waging capabilities and that pose the biggest threats to friendly forces. And the last but certainly not least element is properly trained personnel – especially commanders and planners who understand the rules of the game and can exploit them fully to their advantage. All these elements are links in the same chain, and if any of them are lacking, then the system is degraded, perhaps to the point of ineffectiveness.”

At present, European countries lack many of these key capabilities. By creating a NATO pool that can be built up over time, countries whose small defense budgets could not afford the required investment now have a way forward. This is why Fiszer referred to AGS as “the most important European military program since the end of the Cold War.”

It has been a long slog, however. The AGS program began in 1995, when the NATO Defence Ministers endorsed the NATO Conference of National Armament Directors (CNAD) recommendation for “a NATO-owned and -operated core capability, supplemented by interoperable national assets.”
Over a decade later, they were just beginning to make procurement decisions.

NATO AGS: The Program

NATO’s 2006 decision to proceed with the program meets the NATO requirement for the AGS core capability, which will be a core component for the NATO Response Force. The TIPS-AGS mixed-fleet solution will also support a variety of new mission requirements for NATO including nation building, homeland security and humanitarian relief.

On April 1, 2004, the AGS Steering Committee decided to sign the design and development contract with the TIPS consortium – a decision endorsed by NATO’s Conference of National Armaments Directors on April 16, 2004. The initial award proved that the nearly two dozen member nation could agree on funding for the program.

In addition to Northrop-Grumman and EADS, the winning Trans-Atlantic Industrial Proposed Solution (TIPS) team included General Dynamics Canada, French defense firm Thales, Spain’s Indra and Italy’s Galileo Avionica. The losing CTAS Concortium was led by Raytheon, and included AMS, Bombardier, and Siemens.

NATO was due to decide by early 2006 whether the alliance will go ahead with the full EUR 4 billion ($5.2 billion) program, and the program was cut slightly but survived. The current estimate for a pared-back program is now EUR 3.3 billion (about $4.1 billion) for R&D and initial fielding.

On the other hand, Northrop-Grumman officials have noted that its $250 million per plane E-8C J-STARS ground surveillance aircraft also began as a 5-6 plane order in 1985. Northrop-Grumman eventually delivered 17 of the modified Boeing 707-300s, which performed well in Desert Storm, Kosovo, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and beyond. Indeed, their capabilities were so valuable that they were the catalyst for NATO’s own AGS program.

The design and development phase for AGS will last for two years, from 2005 – 2007. This will be followed by the acquisition phase between 2007 – 2009. The acquisition phase will be divided into engineering and manufacturing development, followed by actual acquisition. AGS Initial Operating Capability is scheduled for 2010-2011, while Full Operational Capability is scheduled for 2012-2014.

NATO AGS: Platforms & Technologies

The full AGS was originally slated to include a mixed fleet of both manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as supporting ground stations. The manned portion would initially call for 5 Airbus A321 aircraft hosting the new TCAR Transatlantic Cooperative AGS Radar (TCAR) development program. It aims to create is a high-performance, side-looking, wide area, multi-mode ground surveillance radar developed under agreement between France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. The TCAR will reside in the sausage-shaped portion above the Airbus airframe. The A321 beat out the smaller but longer-range ASTOR Sentinel R1/Bombardier Global Express platform offered by Raytheon’s CTAS consortium.

The unmanned portion was tp consist of 4 Northrop-Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with MP-RTIP (Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program) radars now being tested in the USA. MP-RTIP is a high-resolution synthetic-aperture ground surveillance radar made by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. These Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars will also retrofit some E-8C JSTARS aircraft, and are reported to have a resolution that could improve resolution to 1 foot or beyond, from the current E-8C radar’s rumored 12-14 feet.

In November 2007, Europe’s declining defense budgets resulted in a program change. NATO chose to move forward with a UAV-only solution based on an off the shelf RQ-4 Block 40 Global Hawk. In early 2008, Alliance member nations are expected to agree to a Program Memorandum of Understanding governing the program, and an RFP is expected to be issued soon thereafter.

On the ground, the AGS Mobile Ground Stations are designed to support Rapid Deployment and dynamic field situations. The idea is that by sharing common Mission Equipment with the Air Segment, full System functionality (including Mission Planning and Control) may be exercised from any authorized source.

The ground segment will be divided into three levels:

1. A Fixed Ground Station configuration, available for an office type environment, command center, et. al.
2. Transportable Ground Stations retains common physical and functional capabilities packaged in flexible protective casing, and is suitable for a variety on vehicles or ships.
3. “Software Grounds Stations” share common software with the Mission Equipment, and brings some of the functionality of a System Workstation to authorized computing systems.

NATO AGS: Key Events & Contracts

Nov 22/07: NATO has pushed back a main operations base decision for the 4-8 Global Hawk UAVs that will operate under the AGS program, as it evaluates the various proposals.

Germany has offered Schleswig-Jagel Air Base in its northernmost province. Their big selling point is commonality benefits for spares, training, maintenance, etc., as it will also host Germany’s Eurohawk RQ-4 derivatives beginning in 2010.

Italy has offered Sigonella air base in Sicily, which hosts a U.S. Naval Air Station and may become a base for US Global Hawks.

Greece proposed Aktion Air Base, which is currently a forward operating base for NATO’s fleet of E-3A AWACS.

Other offers on the table include Poland’s Powidz AB, Portugal’s Beja AB, Spain’s large air base outside Zaragoza, and Slovenia’s Cerklje AB. Closer to the middle east, but also closer to ballistic missile range, are Romania’s Timisoara AB, and Turkey’s Corlu AB. Aviation Week Ares report.

Nov 19/07: The USAF announces new studies to define the NATO AGS “core capability resulting from a UAV-only based approach,” and explore options for greater program integration with the USAf’s RQ-4 Global Hawk program. A 2-phase acquisition approach is reportedly still planned, starting with a design, development and demonstration effort and subsequent full-scale production.

Flight International reports that USAF has confirmed that the A321 “manned aircraft was deleted from the programme in mid-2007 because of affordability issues and NATO is now pursuing an AGS solution based on Global Hawk with the MP-RTIP sensor”.

Oct 26/06: NATO reports that the CNAD agreed to enter into negotiations for the design and development of an Alliance Ground Surveillance system, on the basis of a proposal recently submitted by ASG Industries, while continuing to address a number of important issues in parallel.

Oct 16/06: The renamed AGS Industries GmbH partnership announces the submission of its NATO AGS Proposal for the Design and Development Phase. The major objective of the AGS-I Design and Development proposal was to achieve full design maturity for the AGS system, to include the conversion of the Airbus A321 into a high performance mission aircraft.

AGS Industries’ proposal response confirms a EUR 3.3 billion procurement cost ceiling for a NATO AGS core capability, and now places the programme start as an agenda item for action at the upcoming Conference of National Armament Directors (CNAD) meeting at the end of October. The new cost ceiling is achieved by limiting the number of Global Hawk UAVs to 4 (from 7), limiting the number of ground stations, and additional system-wide reductions. See corporate release.

May 26/06: The TIPS consorium formally becomes AGS Industries GmbH, with its main office in EADS Ottobrun, Germany facilities and a second office in Brussels, Belgium near NATO HQ. See corporate release [PDF format].

Oct 26/05: The TIPS industrial consortium, working with the Transatlantic Cooperative AGS Radar (TCAR) team, announce that they have submitted the study commissioned under the initial EUR 23 million NATO contract. It addresses issues such as overall system and radar-sensor development, cost issues and program risk reduction, and integration. See corporate release [PDF format] and DID’s article; note that the study itself is not publicly available.

April 16/04: TIPS industries wins a NATO design and development contract for EUR 23 million to move the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) programme forward, following an April 1 decision to begin the program and the endorsement by NATO’s Conference of National Armaments Directors. The award came during the Conference of National Armament Directors meeting on April 16th, 2004, which ratified the go-ahead decision. See corporate release [PDF format].

The losing CTAS Concortium was led by Raytheon, and included AMS, Bombardier, and Siemens; its primary manned platform was the longer-range but smaller Bombardier Global Express, a large business jet that has been modified for similar roles as the British ASTOR Sentinel R1.

Northrop Grumman, which employs about 2,000 people in Florida around Melbourne and Daytona Beach, said in response that it plans to shift 25 workers to the AGS program in 2005, and could add 100 engineering positions on the contract over 2006-2007. The jobs would pay an average of $75,000 a year.

Additional Readings & Sources

• Alliance Ground Surveillance The consortium has their own site.

• GlobalSecurity.org – E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS / JSTARS)

• NATO – Alliance Ground Surveillance page

• NATO (December 2004) – Briefing: Improving capabilities to meet new threats; Item #7: Improving Ground Surveillance.

• Northrop Grumman – NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance

• GlobalSecurity.org – Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program. Will include some E-8 JSTARS retrofits, as well as a smaller version on the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV. Was also designed for use of the E-8 JSTARS/ E-3 AWACS successor E-10A, but that program appears to have been cancelled.

• US Air Force Fact Sheets – E-8 JSTARS

• Strategic Review (Fall 2000) – Brittle Swords: Low-Density, High-Demand Assets [42k, PDF]. Helps to explain why systems like AGS that use less expensive platforms for high-demand missions may be a very good idea over the long run.

• AGS Industries GmbH (Oct 16/06) – AGS Industries Submits NATO AGS Proposal for Design and Development Phase

• DID (May 23/06) – Euro-Hawk MoU Signed in Berlin. This covers the Global Hawk derivative Euro-Hawk, which will also add new sensor packages.

• DID (May 17/06) – E-10’s MP-RTIP Ground Surveillance Radar to Test Aboard Proteus.

• eDefense Online (Feb 22/06) – The Eyes of Europe. Subtitled “NATO’s AGS: Europe’s most important military program.” Regrettably, eDefense Online has folded and its archives with it; this article was not archived in Google or the Wayback Machine.

• DID (Oct 27/05) – NATO TIPS-AGS “Eye In the Sky” Consortium Submits Initial Risk Reduction Study

• FloridaToday.com (April 29/05) – Northrop takes first step toward NATO spy plane

• Reuters – NATO Signs Initial ‘Eye in the Sky’ Contract

• Raytheon – (Jan 21/04) – CTAS Consortium Delivers its Report Addressing NATO’s Air to Ground Surveillance Requirements. Its report was delivered from Los Angeles, CA to Brussels onboard a Bombardier Global Express aircraft, which the CTAS consortium recommended as the primary manned platform for AGS. Britain’s ASTOR Sentinel R1 surveillance and electronic eavesdropping aircraft is already based on the Global Express, which has a longer range than the Airbus A321 but less internal volume.