USA Spending $532M to Upgrade its E-8 J-STARS Eyes in the Sky
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Northrop Grumman Corp. in Melbourne, FL received a $532 million cost-reimbursement fixed-price contract to procure improvements which will increase the performance capability, reliability, and maintainability of the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (J-STARS) aircraft. With their advanced ground-looking radars and sensors, and extensive communications intercept capabilities, they providing a picture of the ground situation equivalent to AWACS air picture. J-STARS aircraft are capable of determining the direction, speed and patterns of military activity of ground vehicles and helicopters. They then act as an airborne command and control center, sending this information via secure data links with air force command posts, army mobile ground stations and centres of military analysis around the world.
The USA currently has 17 E-8 J-STARS aircraft in its fleet, built around the airframe of the Boeing 707-300 airliner. They have been deployed in every major crisis situation since Desert Storm. With respect to this upgrade effort….
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Some of the projected efforts would be focused on communications, navigation, surveillance, air traffic management, mobile target tracking, joint tactical radio systems, advanced radar systems, and capability for airborne networking. The US Air Force can issue task orders totaling up to this maximum amount, but may issue less.
This effort will include proposed upgrades and improvements from studies to systems engineering, manufacturing, installation, test and demonstrations, production and retrofit, engineering change proposals, documentation, logistics support and sustainment, and simulation of solution, initial operator training, et. al. Work will be complete in December 2011. Solicitations began in August 2005 with one proposal received by the Headquarters Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, MA (FA8708-06-D-0001); the public affairs contact is Chuck Paone (781) 377-5078.
ASIDE: Note that NATO has a similar program underway called TIPS-AGS. It will be composed of a smaller but more modern Airbus A321 radar aircraft working in conjunction with RQ-4B Global Hawk UAVs and a combination of fixed and mobile ground stations.
