The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army‘s Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System team has showcased a ground surveillance and battle management aircraft during a Michigan National Guard-hosted exercise.The 2017 Northern Strike gathered approximately 5,000 service members from across the U.S. and five coalition countries at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Michigan to witness the capacity of the E-8C Joint STARS platform, the Defense Department said Friday.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Kenneth Billings, a mission crew commander with the Georgia Air National Guard, said the exercise has provided the Joint STARS team with opportunities to refine wartime approaches alongside joint and multinational allies.
E-8C was derived from the Boeing 707 series and built by Northrop Grumman.
The system is equipped with 22 radios, seven data links, two internet connections and a telephone system designed to help users offer wide-area joint airborne command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support for combatant commanders worldwide.
Twenty-one personnel from the Georgia Air National Guard’s 116th Air Control Wing, active-duty 461st Air Control Wing and Army Joint STARS team compose the Joint STARS team.
The group provided battle management ISR and C2 data in support of the Northern Strike exercise.
