JSTARS RADAR SELECTION PROTESTED
RAYTHEON STEPS IN E-8 REPLACEMENT ARGUMENT
A
LTHOUGH THE USAF
has not formally
announced the
selection of Northrop
Grumman’s wide-area
surveillance radar for
its next Joint Surveillance Target
Attack Radar System (JSTARS)
platform, Raytheon has led a
protest with the US Government
Accountability O ce (GAO) over
the expected decision. Raytheon
had o ered its Archimedes radar,
which is based on the AN/APS-
Advanced Airborne Sensor that
was developed for the US
Navy’s P-8A.Although the USAF has already
spent around $250 million on risk-
reduction activities, the service is
considering whether it will proceed
with plans to replace the current E-8C
eet with 17 new aircraft as part of its
$6.9-billion JSTARS recapitalization
program. Recent reports indicate that
Air Combat Command is concerned
over the aircraft’s vulnerability
when operating in contested or
highly contested environments. The
service has pushed back its decision
regarding the program while it
considers whether the mission can be
performed by other assets including
unmanned aircraft and satellites.Boeing, Northrop Grumman and
Lockheed Martin have submitted
o ers that are respectively based
on the 737-700 Boeing Business Jet,
Gulfstream G550 and Bombardier
Global 6000.
Separate from the airframe e orts,
Northrop Grumman and Raytheon
Space and Airborne Systems
developed the two competing
radars in parallel under $70-million
and $60-million risk reduction
contracts awarded by the USAF
in March 2016. The Fiscal 2018
National Defense Authorization Act
provides $400 million for the JSTARS
recap program.LANCERS DEPLOY
A PAIR OF B-1Bs operated by the
37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron
deployed from Andersen AFB, Guam,
to Royal Australian Air Force Base
Amberley, Australia, on November- The deployment, which was
conducted as part of the Enhanced
Air Co-operation (EAC) initiative,
included participation in the RAAF’s
‘Lightning Focus’ exercise. The
bombers, which were deployed to
Andersen from Grand Forks AFB,
North Dakota, in support of US
Paci c Command’s Continuous
Bomber Presence (CBP) mission,
returned to Guam on December- Since arriving at Andersen in
July, the Lancers have been active
throughout the Paci c. Recent
missions have included participation
in large-scale military exercises over
the Korean peninsula.
SPECIAL SCHEME FOR
TURBO MENTOR
Fleet Readiness Center Southeast at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, recently
applied a special paint scheme to one of the US Navy’s remaining T-34C
Turbo Mentors. The aircraft, which is assigned to strike fi ghter squadron
VFA-122 at NAS Lemoore, California, was painted in a scheme apparently
based on World War Two markings. No longer used in the fl ight training
role, the US Navy’s 16 remaining T-34Cs are used to clear bombing
ranges and serve as safety aircraft by fl ying at the ‘no-lower-than
altitude’ during bomb training missions. US Navy/Victor PittsF-16 LIFE EXTENSION
MOVES AHEAD
THE USAF RELEASED a request
for proposals associated
with its planned service life
extension program (SLEP) for
its F-16 eet on November 20.
The $403-million project will
modify, repair or replace ‘life-
limited’ airframe components
on up to 841 of the ghters.
Once modi ed with the SLEP
kits, the service life for the Block
40/42 and 50/52 ghters will
increase from 8,000 equivalent
ight hours to 13,856 hours
and allow the ghter to remain
in service through 2040. The
newest and most capable
versions of the ghter were
delivered between December
1988 and March 2005.NAVY SQUADRONS ARRIVE AT IWAKUNI
RELOCATION OF THE rst US
Navy ghters from NAF Atsugi,
Japan, to MCAS Iwakuni occurred
on November 28, when Super
Hornets and Growlers arrived at
the latter facility. The arrival of
F/A-18Es and EA-18Gs operated by
strike ghter squadrons VFA-
and VFA-195 and electronic attack
squadron VAQ-141 took place at
the conclusion of the aircraft carrier
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Carrier
Strike Group’s latest deployment.Although carrier air wing CVW-5’s
rotary-wing squadron will remain
at Atsugi, F/A-18Es, F/A-18Fs and
C-2As operated by VFA-27, VFA-
and VRC-30 will also relocate
to Iwakuni.
The move of the xed-wing
aircraft from Atsugi to Iwakuni was
directed by a Security Consultative
Committee document (also known
as the US — Japan Roadmap for
Realignment) that was released on
May 1, 2006.An EA-18G of VAQ-141 ‘Shadowhawks’ arrives MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, on
November 28. The squadron arrived at the base as part of carrier air wing
CVW-5’s relocation from Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan.
USMC/Cpl Donato Maffi nAn F/A-18E assigned to strike fi ghter squadron VFA-115 ‘Eagles’ lands
at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, on November 28. The squadron arrived at
the base as part of carrier air wing CVW-5’s relocation from Naval Air
Facility Atsugi, Japan. USMC/Cpl Donato Maffi n[NEWS] UNITED STATES
10 February 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
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