Latest Engine Mod Keeps JSTARS Viable, Says Northrop Grumman | Aviation International News

Latest Engine Mod Keeps JSTARS Viable, Says Northrop Grumman

The E-8C JSTARS test bed took off for the first time on December 14 with the standard of JT8D engines that will be fitted to the entire fleet if funding allows. (Photo: Northrop Grumman)

By Chris Pocock • Defense Correspondent

December 23, 2011

Northrop Grumman is hoping that funds to re-engine the first two operational E-8C JSTARS radar surveillance aircraft will be provided in the Fiscal 2013 budget next year. The test bed aircraft is now flying with JT8D-219 engines that Northrop Grumman has modified with a new pneumatic system that it claims “vastly improves reliability and the hardware’s life cycle.” Although the JT8D is hardly new technology, the 17 operational E-8Cs are powered by even older JT3Ds. A $1.7 billion program to replace them was started some years ago, and the test bed first flew with JT8Ds in December 2008. But funding to proceed with the upgrade was later restricted, while the U.S. Air Force launched a study of alternative means of providing ground moving target indicator (GMTI) radar maps to ground forces. Responding to the study, Boeing has suggested replacing the E-8C fleet with a version of the P-8 Poseidon, based on the 737-700.

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