E-8C Joint STARS

The Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) refilling in the mid-flight. The Northrop Grumman...

The Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) refilling in the mid-flight.

The Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) is the premier airborne command, control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C2ISR) platform for the U.S. Air Force's air-to-ground battle management and surveillance operations. The platform provides long-endurance, all-weather surveillance, and targeting of moving and stationary targets, helping U.S. and allied forces shorten the attack and decision chain. The only total weapons system of its kind, Joint STARS has provided air-to-ground battle management C2 and surveillance operations to U.S. combatant commands for more than 25 years in support of military operations, disaster relief, peacekeeping and counter-drug missions.

Manufacturer

E-8C Joint STARS is a product of Boeing Service, designed with 4x propulsion and TF33-102C engines. It can reach a speed of 587 mph, with 9 hours a range. The spy plane has 4 flight crew and three Army specialists but normally (15 mission crew) based on the highly adaptable civilian 707-200 commercial airliner airframe, the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System is the U.S. Air Force’s primary platform for battle management and tracking of ground targets. The aircraft made its debut during Operation Desert Storm where it guided aerial attacks on Iraqi armor and ground targets for coalition forces. It has flown more than 130,000 combat hours since 9/11 supporting operations globally.


E-8C Joint STARS equipped with advanced technology that combines accurate wide-area moving target detection with synthetic aperture radar imagery to locate, classify and track targets in all weather conditions from standoff distances. Joint STARS offers battlefield commanders real-time situational information, while simultaneously transmitting target locations to aircraft and ground strike forces.

E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) is a United States Air Force airborne ground surveillance, battle management and command and control aircraft.

The most prominent external feature is the 27-foot (8 meters) long, canoe-shaped radome under the forward fuselage that houses the 24-foot (7.3 meters) long, side-looking phased array antenna. The radar and computer subsystems on the E-8C can gather and display detailed battlefield information on ground forces. The information is relayed in near-real time to the Army and Marine Corps common ground stations and to other ground commands, control, communications, computers and intelligence, or C4I, nodes. The antenna can be tilted to either side of the aircraft where it can develop a 120-degree field of view covering nearly 19,305 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) and is capable of detecting targets at more than 250 kilometers (more than 820,000 feet).

The radar also has some limited capability to detect helicopters, rotating antennas and low, slow-moving fixed wing aircraft. 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.