Often dubbed an “AWACS for ground pounders,” the Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STAR provides the US military an unmatchable God’s eye view of a battlespace up to 19,305 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) in size. The massive onboard radar, visible as a large bulge under the aircraft’s fuselage, can detect small moving targets out to a range of 250 kilometers. Even individual dismounted enemy fighters can’t hide from the J-Stars’ next-generation sensor suite and AN/APY-7 synthetic aperture radar.
Cold War Design Carried Over ToThe 21st Century:
Officially named the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS), this military aircraft is built off of a heavily modified Boeing 707-300 commercial liner frame. Designed in the late Cold War, the Pentagon almost canceled the J-STAR program after the collapse of the Soviet Union. That all changed, however, when the Persian Gulf War began in 1991.
Facing an immediate need to scan large battle areas for mobile missile sites and dug-in armored units, the US Air Force rushed the first prototype E-8’s into service. In that short conflict, two J-Stars flew over 500 sortie flight hours with a 100% mission success rate. Between the Gulf War and the War on Terrorism, J-STARS also served as NATO’s go-to battle management platform during the Yugoslavian Civil War intervention.
An E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, also known as Joint STARS, from the 7th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron, receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron during a mission over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, May 17.
While the onboard radar, infrared and SIGNIT systems on the E-8C can gather and relay enemy information in near-real time to common ground stations, that’s only part of this unique aircraft’s job. The J-Star and its battle staff of 18 officers and sensor operators can handle the full spectrum of command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) missions. Essentially acting as an on-the-scene airborne command post to coordinate forces from different service branches or foreign allies, and all in real-time.
Counterinsurgency Speciality:
Originally intended to coordinate large, complex and fluid mobile battlefields during a WWIII type scenario, J-STARS have excelled in small-scale counter insurgency warfare. As of 2015, the E-8 Joint Star fleet has flown more than 85,000 mission hours in support of combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya.
An E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Systems taxis down the runway after completing a mission June 7, 2016, at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. The JSTARS team flies 10 to 11 hours per mission to provide ground commanders with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance air power to boost force protection, defensive operations, over-watch and combat search and rescue missions throughout the area of responsibility.
With the E-8C’s nine hours of unrefueled endurance, few other surveillance aircraft can match its time on-station. Which is a huge advantage for any aircraft supporting ground operations. Whether coordinating massive operations involving thousands of troops across vast region or helping a lone platoon in trouble to find a way out, the J-STAR is a true guardian angel in the sky.
Performance:
Thanks to recent upgrades in the E-8C version, J-STARS can also serve as a fire control network node. In several combat missions, J-STARS have identified mobile targets and directly guided AGM-154 C-1 Joint Standoff Weapons, fired by U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets, for successful engagement.
The E-8 Joint Star is also the US’s preferred surveillance aircraft for monitoring the Korean Demilitarized Zone. With its unparalleled ability to scan the DMZ for camouflaged infiltrators and spot any new force concentration for hundreds of kilometers north of the zone, J-STAR’s play a crucial role in keeping the peace on the Korean peninsula.
The Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) is a retired United States Air Force (USAF) airborne ground surveillance, battle management and command and control aircraft.
In its place, Robins is getting a Battle Management Control squadron, an E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) squadron, a Spectrum Warfare group, and support units focused on the Advanced Battle Management System. The first E-8 departed Robins in February 2022.
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. Joint STARS evolved from Army and Air Force programs to develop, detect, locate and attack enemy armor at ranges beyond the forward area of troops.
AWACS originally conceived as controlling the counter air battle while JSTARS was originally conceived to control the air-to-ground war. AWACS was equipped with a parcel above the fuselage rotating radar dome to conduct 360 deg air search and track.
In place of its JSTARS unit, Robins is getting a Battle Management Control squadron, an E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) squadron, a Spectrum Warfare group, and support units focused on the service's Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).
In a historic moment, the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft, known as JSTARS, wrapped up its final operational mission on September 21, 2023, signaling the conclusion of its three-decade-long service as a crucial “eye in the sky” for the US Air Force, according to an official announcement.
To replace the old AWACS jets, NATO aims to purchase six Boeing E-7 A Wedgetail planes, with the contract to be signed in 2024 and the first jet ready for operational duty by 2031.
The four E-4Bs are operated by the 1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron of the 595th Command and Control Group located at Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha, Nebraska. An E-4B when in action is denoted a "National Airborne Operations Center" and has been nicknamed the "Doomsday plane".
There are 31 aircraft in the U.S. inventory. Air Combat Command has 27 E-3s at Tinker. Pacific Air Forces has four E-3 Sentries at Kadena AB, Japan and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. NATO has 17 E-3A's and support equipment.
As of Apr 11, 2024, the average hourly pay for an E8 in the United States is $18.02 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing hourly wages as high as $25.48 and as low as $10.10, the majority of E8 wages currently range between $15.38 (25th percentile) to $19.47 (75th percentile) across the United States.
Senior master sergeant (abbreviated SMSgt) is the second-highest enlisted rank (pay grade E-8) in the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, just above master sergeant and below chief master sergeant, and is a senior non-commissioned officer (SNCO).
The AWACS isn't designed to jam communications or radar, it's not their mission . The civilian radio communications in theory could be “jammed” by transmitting noise over their communication channel. That said, any aircraft with a VHF radio could do the same.
The communications system, enabling the control of friendly aircraft in pursuit of enemy planes, operates over a single channel, secure from enemy interception, that is also relatively immune to jamming because of its high speed. The first production-model AWACS entered service in 1977.
The Air Force's E-3 Sentry AWACS fleet is down to just 18 aircraft with the retirement of the last of 13 aircraft to be divested from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., this year. The jet left Tinker for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.
The service is seeking to ditch 65 aging F-15C/Ds, some of which are barely airworthy, and divest 56 A-10 Warthog aircraft, which the USAF wants to retire from the force entirely by 2029.
On 20 December 2019, following the establishment of the United States Space Force as an independent service, Air Force Space Command was also redesignated as United States Space Force (USSF) and served as the transitional headquarters of the new service, but remained a component of the U.S. Air Force.
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