| E-8 Joint STARS | |
|---|---|
 USAF E-8C Joint STARS |
|
| Type | Airborne battle management |
| Manufacturer | Boeing/Northrop Grumman |
| Introduction | 1996 |
| Primary users | United States Air Force Air National Guard |
| Number built | 17 |
| Unit cost | US$244. An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E Northrop Grumman Corporation ( is an Aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The Air National Guard ( ANG), often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the several states and 4 million in 1998 |
| Developed from | Boeing 707 |
The E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) is a United States Air Force airborne battle management and command and control (C2) platform that conducts ground surveillance to develop an understanding of the enemy situation and to support attack operations and targeting that contributes to the delay, disruption and destruction of enemy forces. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout These functions support the primary mission of Joint STARS - to provide dedicated support of ground and air theater commanders.
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Development
Joint STARS evolved from separate United States Army and Air Force programs to develop, detect, locate and attack enemy armor at ranges beyond the forward area of troops. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. In 1982, the programs were merged and the US Air Force became the lead agent. The concept and sensor technology for the E-8 was developed and tested on the Tacit Blue experimental aircraft. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The prime contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman Aerospace Corporation) in September 1985 for two E-8A development systems. Northrop Grumman Corporation ( is an Aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. These aircraft were deployed in 1991 to participate in Operation Desert Storm under the direction of Albert J. Verderosa, even though they were still in development. The joint program accurately tracked mobile Iraqi forces, including tanks and Scud missiles. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Scud is a series of Tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and exported widely to other countries Crews flew developmental aircraft on 49 combat sorties accumulating more than 500 combat hours and a 100 % mission effectiveness rate.
Joint STARS developmental aircraft were also called to support the NATO peacekeeping mission, Operation Joint Endeavor, in December 1995. The North Atlantic Treaty Operation Joint Endeavour was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization deployment of the peacekeeping force IFOR to Bosnia beginning in December 1995 While flying in friendly air space, the test-bed E-8A and pre-production E-8C aircraft monitored ground movements to confirm compliance with the Dayton Peace Treaty agreements. Crews flew 95 consecutive operational sorties and more than 1,000 flight hours with a 98 % mission effectiveness rate.
Design
The E-8C is a modified Boeing 707-300 series commercial airframe extensively re-manufactured and modified with the radar, communications, operations and control subsystems required to perform its operational mission. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The most prominent external feature is the 12 m (40 ft) long, canoe-shaped radome under the forward fuselage that houses the 7. 3 m (24 ft) long, side-looking APY-7 phased array antenna.
The USAF has selected Pratt & Whitney to re-engine the fleet of 19 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft. Pratt & Whitney, in a joint venture with Seven Q Seven (SQS), will produce and deliver the complete JT8D-219 propulsion system. This will allow the Joint STARS more time on station due to the engine's greater fuel efficiency. Joint STARS is programmed to be used until 2025. Recently, the USAF decided to cancel the funds to re-engine the fleet.
Radar and systems
The AN/APY-7 radar uses the Doppler shift theory in order to pick up moving targets using its ground moving target indicator (GMTI) modes. Moving target indication ( MTI) is a mode of operation of a Radar to discriminate a target against clutter. This is distinct from pulsed radars as it looks for the frequency shift of the returned signal, so the radar can be used continuously. It has the ability to 'look' from a long range, which the military refers to as a high stand off capability. The antenna can be tilted to either side of the aircraft where it can develop a 120 degree field of view covering nearly 50,000 km² (19,305 mile²) and is capable of simultaneously tracking 600 targets at more than 250 km (152 miles). Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of Any objects of sufficient size (vehicle) and density that are moving will be seen by the radar. The GMTI modes cannot pick up stationary objects. The system does have synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes that can produce images of stationary objects. Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR is a form of Radar in which the highly-directional (and thus very large rotating antenna used by conventional radar is replaced with many low-directivity Objects with many angles (for example, the interior of a pick-up bed) will give a much better radar signature (called specular returns). In addition to being able to detect, locate and track large numbers of ground vehicles, the radar has a limited capability to detect helicopters, rotating antennas and low, slow moving fixed wing aircraft. Radar operating modes include wide area surveillance, ground moving target indicator (GMTI), fixed target indicator (FTI) target classification and synthetic aperture radar.
The radar and computer subsystems on the E-8C can gather and display broad and detailed battlefield information. Data is collected as events occur. This includes position and tracking information on enemy and friendly ground forces. The information is relayed in near-real time to the US Army's common ground stations via the secure jam-resistant surveillance and control data link (SCDL) and to other ground command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) nodes beyond line-of-sight via ultra high frequency satellite communications. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities.
Other major E-8C prime mission equipment are the communications/datalink (COMM/DLX) and operations and control (O&C)subsystems. Eighteen operator workstations display computer-processed data in graphic and tabular format on video screens. Operators and technicians perform battle management, surveillance, weapons, intelligence, communications and maintenance functions.
Battle management
In support of air-to-ground operations, the E-8C can provide real time information needed to increase ground situation awareness with intelligence support, attack support and targeting operations including attack aviation, naval surface fire, field artillery and friendly maneuver forces. Situation awareness, or SA is the perception of environmental elements within a volume of time and space the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status in the It also provides information for air and land commanders to gain and maintain control of the battle-space and execute against enemy forces. [1]
As a battle management and command and control asset, the E-8C can support the full spectrum of roles and missions from peacekeeping operations to major theater war. As capable as the E-8's systems are, the information returned has very little detail. While it can pick up moving vehicles on the opposite side of the battlefield, it can provide little information about the vehicles. Approximate number of vehicles, location, speed, direction of travel, and the time that the target was detected is about all that can be determined. Identifying who the target is, what equipment they have, whether it is friendly, hostile, or bystanders, is not possible with this system. That is one of the reasons why it is a joint system, so that other sensors from the other services may reference each other to positively verify JSTARS reports. In the Army, JSTARS is analyzed in the Common Ground Station (CGS) and disseminated from there.
Operations
The E-8C can respond quickly and effectively to support worldwide military contingency operations. It is a jam-resistant system capable of operating while experiencing heavy electronic countermeasures. Electronic Countermeasures ( ECM') are a subsection of Electronic warfare which includes any sort of electrical or electronic device designed to trick The E-8C can fly a mission profile for 9 hours without refueling. Its range and on-station time can be substantially increased through in-flight refueling. Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling ( IFR) air-to-air refueling ( AAR) or tanking, is
The 93d Air Control Wing, which activated January 29, 1996, accepted its first aircraft, June 11, 1996, and deployed in support of Operation Joint Endeavor in October. The 93d Air-Ground Operations Wing is a support wing of the United States Air Force. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Events 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned according to the calculations of Eratosthenes. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Operation Joint Endeavour was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization deployment of the peacekeeping force IFOR to Bosnia beginning in December 1995 The designated 93d Air Expeditionary Group (Provisional) monitored treaty compliance while NATO rotated troops through Bosnia-Herzegovina. The North Atlantic Treaty Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan The first production E-8C and a pre-production E-8C flew 36 operational sorties and more than 470 flight hours with a 100 % effectiveness rate. The wing declared initial operational capability December 18, 1997 after receiving the second production aircraft. Events 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal 's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Operation Allied Force saw Joint STARS in action again from February to June 1999 accumulating more than 1,000 flight hours and a 94. 5 % mission-effectiveness rate in support of the U. S. lead Kosovo War. The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is often used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts in Kosovo: 1996–1999
On October 1, 2002, the 93d Air Control Wing (ACW) was "blended" with the 116th Bomb Wing (BW) in a ceremony at Robins AFB, Georgia. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule The 116 BW was an Air National Guard (ANG) wing equipped with the B-1B Lancer bomber at Robins AFB. The Air National Guard ( ANG), often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the several states and WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. As a result of a USAF reorganization of the B-1B force, all B-1Bs were assigned to active duty wings, resulting in the 116 BW lacking a current mission. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Extensive efforts by the Governor and congressional delegation of Georgia led to the resulting "blending", with the newly created wing designated as the 116th Air Control Wing (ACW). A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule The 93 ACW was deactivated the same day. The 116 ACW constituted the first fully blended wing of active duty and Air National Guard airmen. The Air National Guard ( ANG), often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the several states and
The 116 ACW has been heavily involved in both Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom, earning high marks for operational effectiveness and recently completing 10,000 combat hours. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF is the official name used by the U Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, The wing took delivery of the 17th and final E-8C on March 23, 2005. Events 1174 - Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose, is elected Bishop of Glasgow. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The E-8C Joint STARS routinely supports various taskings of the Combined Force Command Korea during the North Korean winter exercise cycle and for the United Nations enforcing resolutions on Iraq. North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia, The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The twelfth production aircraft, outfitted with an upgraded operations and control subsystem, was delivered to the USAF on November 5, 2001. Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar.
Variants
- E-8A - Original platform configuration[2]
- TE-8A - Single aircraft with operational equipment removed, used for flight crew training[2]
- E-8C - Production Joint Stars platform configuration[2]
Operators
Specifications (E-8C)
General characteristics
- Crew: flight crew of four, plus 15 Air Force and three Army specialists (crew size varies according to mission)
- Length: 152 ft 11 in (46. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Air National Guard ( ANG), often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the several states and 6 m)
- Wingspan: 145 ft 9 in (44. The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane or a Bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip 4 m)
- Height: 42 ft 6 in (13 m)
- Max takeoff weight: 336,000 lb (152,409 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Pratt & Whitney TF33-102C turbofan engines, 19,200 lbf (85 kN) each
- Endurance: 9 hours (unrefueled)
Performance
- Cruise speed: optimum orbit speed 390 to 510 knots (722 to 945 km/h), (Mach 0. The Maximum Takeoff Weight or Maximum Takeoff Mass of an Aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot of the aircraft is allowed to attempt to take off WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A turbofan is a type of Jet engine, similar to a Turbojet. It essentially consists of a Ducted fan with a smaller diameter turbojet engine This article deals with the unit of force For the unit of mass see Pound (mass. In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such 52 - 0. 65)
- Service ceiling 42,000 ft (12,802 m)
See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
References
- ^ Coskuner, Nevin, Multimission Aircraft Design Study - Operational Scenarios Air Force Institute of Technology
- ^ a b c DoD 4120. In Aeronautics, a ceiling is the maximum Density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Boeing E-6 Mercury is an American military Aircraft. It operates as an airborne command post and communications center relaying instructions WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout * List of active United States military aircraft This is a list of currently-active Military aircraft in use by the United States 15L, Model Designation of Military Aerospace Vehicles
This article contains material that originally came from a U.S. Air Force website. According to their site usage guidelines, Air Force material "is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. " For more information, please review their disclaimer.
External links
- Northrop Grumman Joint STARS Product Info
- Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
- Northrop Grumman ISR overview
- USAF Fact Sheet
- Joint STARS Re-engine Program Info
- Assault Breaker Analysis - Concept Demonstration for JSTARS
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