HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (March 22, 1996) -- The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System moved a giant step closer to being part of the Air Force operational fleet today when the first production version was accepted by Under Secretary of the Air Force Rudy deLeon and Joint STARS Program Director Col. Robert Chedister.
The event took place at Northrop Grumman's Melbourne, Fla., facility where the heart of Joint STARS -- the radar, operations and control and communications subsystems -- is installed and tested.
Although this first production aircraft is not scheduled to enter operational service until later this year, the system is already combat-proven. Two pre-production test E-8As were taken from the development program and used in Operation Desert Storm. One of those E-8As and an E-8C test aircraft are expected to return next week from Rhein-Main AB, Germany, where they have been used to monitor the Bosnian peace agreement.
"The system today is proving its worth in Bosnia for jointness and for coalition operations other than war," Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology Paul G. Kaminski said. "We have now flown over 80 missions. Every single tasked mission has been flown."
DeLeon said, "The other side knows that as long as there is a system like Joint STARS flying, and as long as those orbits are being run, he cannot hide. He cannot reveal troop movements. And that is of great comfort to our pilots who have to fly, to our soldiers who are on the ground, to be able to know constantly what the other side is doing.
"So here we are today delivering the first operational aircraft and this program is already a success," deLeon said. "This program is already changing the way we think and operate in this post-Cold War era."
Hailing the success of the program, Principal Deputy Assistant Air Force Secretary for Acquisition and Management Darleen A. Druyun said, "Today is a great day for the nation ... for Joint STARS is a true Joint and national asset. It is an asset that is changing the very nature of the way we conduct military operations and is already a nearly indispensable system for our theater commanders and our national leadership.
"I can foresee the day when the first questions the president asks during times of crisis is 'Where are the Joint STARS?' and 'When can they be there?' The answers, of course, will be: 'Right up the road at Robins AFB' and, 'They are on their way,'" Druyun said.
Air Force plans call for 20 Joint STARS aircraft, with 19 of them assigned to the 93rd Air Control Wing at Robins AFB, Ga. The E-8C test plane will remain at Melbourne but would be available for deployments. Joint STARS is one of three systems being evaluated by NATO to meet its airborne ground surveillance requirements.
Used Boeing 707-300 aircraft are remanufactured by Northrop Grumman at the company's Lake Charles, La., facility before being flown to Melbourne for installation of the electronics.
Today's ceremony was attended by more than 1,500 members of the Joint STARS Joint Test Force, Northrop Grumman and subcontractors and key government officials.
Shortly after the ceremony, the E-8C was flown to Robins AFB. After several weeks of work with depot and maintenance personnel at Robins, the plane will be turned over to Air Combat Command.
For more information, contact Roy Heitman via email- heitmanr@Radium-VS1.hanscom.af.mil
or at ESC's Office of Public Affairs - (617) 377-4466