U.S. Air Force awards $349.6 million Joint STARS contract extension
NewsNovember 20, 2017
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a 12-month, $349.6 million contract for Total System Support Responsibility (TSSR) of the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) fleet, which is a command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C2ISR) aircraft designed to support combatant commanders in-theater.
Under the terms of the contract renewal, Northrop Grumman will continue to provide program management, engineering technical support, supply chain and spares management, aircrew training, technical data, and customer support as it strives to maximize aircraft available for operational and training use and reduce program cost.
Joint STARS -- which offers battlefield commanders real-time situational information while simultaneously transmitting target locations to aircraft and ground strike forces -- is the only platform in the U.S. arsenal that combines accurate wide-area moving target detection with synthetic aperture radar imagery to locate, classify, and track ground targets in all weather conditions from standoff distances. The Joint STARS fleet has flown more than 130,000 combat mission hours in support of Central Command (CENTCOM) since September 11, 2001.
Bryan Lima, director, manned C2ISR program, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, said of the latest contract: "Our 32-year Joint STARS partnership with the Air Force provides us with an in-depth understanding of this powerful mission domain. Over several decades, we have responded to this ever-evolving battlespace by affordably adding 27 different capabilities. We continue to collaborate closely with our customer to keep the high-demand E-8C fleet available and mission-capable -- ahead of emerging threats to support our combatant commanders.”
The integrated logistics support contract covers TSSR Period Year 18, which began November 1, 2017, and concludes October 31, 2018.
