Air Force Analysis: New & Upgraded JSTARS Preps for New Enemies

byKris Osborn

The Air Force manned Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System has been using advanced technology to gather and share combat-relevant information, circle above military operations and share key Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance data with service command and control.

Since its combat missions during the Gulf War in the early 1990s, JSTARS has been an indispensable asset to combat operations, as it covers a wide swath of terrain across geographically diverse areas to scan for actionable intelligence and pertinent enemy activity.

 The JSTARS mission is of such significance that the Air Force is now evaluating multiple industry proposals to recapitalize the mission with a new, high-tech, next-generation JSTARS plane to serve for decades into the future.

However, while Air Force officials tell Warrior the service plans to continue its pursuit of a new JSTARS platform, service weapons developers now say the Air Force is contemplating the prospect of developing different systems, platforms or technologies better equipped to perform the JSTARS mission in high-threat environments. 

The circumstance has left many to wonder about just what kind of path forward the Air Force will ultimately pursue when it comes to its longer-term aerial battlefield surveillance mission. 

“The Air Force remains in source selection for a follow-on to JSTARS as we continue to evaluate alternative approaches for battlefield command and control that could be more effective in high-threat environments.  In the meantime, we plan to continue flying the current JSTARS fleet through fiscal year 2023,” Capt. Emily Grabowski, Air Force spokeswoman, told Scout Warrior.  “Although we are exploring options, there are many steps still to be taken before any force structure proposals are included in the 2019 budget.”

In the meantime, as Grabowski indicated, the Air Force is aggressively advancing efforts to ensure that the existing JSTARS fleet of 16 aircraft remain current, upgraded and able to function in high-threat combat circumstances.