USA Spending $532M to Upgrade its E-8 J-STARS Eyes in the Sky

E-8C JSTARS Connectivity(click to view full) 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 J-STARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System) 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 centers of military analysis around the world. E-8C J-STARS(click to view full) The USA ordered 19 total E-8 J-STARS aircraft, built around the airframe of the Boeing 707-300 airliner. The operational fleet of 17 planes has been deployed in every major crisis situation since Desert Storm. Some of the projected fleet upgrade 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 […]