Joint STARS Proves Worth in Anti-Ship Role

An E-8C Joint STARS aircraft has completed a series of flights to see how well it could help guide anti-ship weapons against surface combatants at standoff distances. These activities were part of the Navy-led demonstration called joint surface warfare. To support the demo, members of the Joint STARS modernization branch at Hanscom AFB, Mass, developed prototype software called Link 16 network-enabled weapon for the Joint STARS testbed aircraft. With it, the aircraft served as the command-and-control node as well as a node for transmitting in-flight target updates to Navy joint standoff weapons during the three days of tests in September off of the coast of California. “From the Joint STARS perspective, the demonstration was completely successful,” said Brittany Ridings, who oversaw the JSW effort. (Hanscom report by Patty Welsh)