Northrop Grumman completed Block 20 upgrades to the E-8C Joint STARS. With the entire fleet of ground surveillance aircraft operating at the same “open systems” configuration, Northrop says the Air Force can make future hardware and software upgrades at a lower cost. The upgrade also increases mission effectiveness.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…