The Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) is a project of the US Air Force and the Department of the Army. JSTARS serves as a theater Battle Management and Command and Control Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C2ISR) platform that provides support to joint, interagency and multinational commanders and components (“Northrop Grumman,” n.d.). JSTARS includes airborne and ground-based components and connectivity. The airborne component consists of the E-8 series aircraft and includes radar, operations and control, and communications subsystems. The system is capable of providing a near real-time picture of the ground situation as well as determining the direction, speed and patterns of military activity. JSTARs has effectively and efficiently deployed in support of several military and interagency operations (“INSCOM,” n.d.). The JSTARs fleet should be maintained as it evolves so it may continue to produce high-demand intelligence and remain an extremely valuable asset in the field.
The JSTARS E-8 series aircraft was first introduced to the US Air Force in 1996. The Boeing 707-300 series aircraft serves as the JSTARS airframe and its propulsion system consists of four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B turbojet engines, each providing 18,000lb of thrust. JSTARS is capable of a flight endurance of 11 hours or 20 hours with in-flight refueling and it has a surface ceiling of 42,000ft (13,000m). JSTARS employs Wide Area Surveillance, Fixed Target Indication (FTI), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Moving Target Indicator (MTI), and Target Classification Modes. JSTARS aircraft have secure voice and datalinks to the army's ground command and communications stations and to Air Force command centers. The aircraft are al...
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... another 25 years on the E-8 platform. Budget constraints and engine upgrades are the major factors holding the system back. The JSTARS needs to be maintained in order to sustain its place as an aerial intelligence powerhouse.
Works Cited
Northrop Grumman (n.d.), E-8C Joint STARS Capabilities. Retrieved from http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/E8CJointSTARS/Pages/default.aspx
United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (n.d.), Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Systems. Retrieved from http://www.inscom.army.mil/MSC/JSTARS.aspx?txtMode=true
Air Force-Technology.com (n.d.), JSTARS - Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System, United States of America. Retrieved from http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/jstars/ Army.com (n.d.), Common Ground Station Operator. Retrieved from
http://army.com/info/mos/common-ground-station-operator
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The Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) is a network of select aircraft from several commercial airlines that are all committed in various amounts to the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide airlift resources when the capability of U.S. military aircraft is exceeded. This system is designed so that these carriers can provide military cargo movement and troop transportation to anywhere in the world on short notice in the event of a military conflict. In order for airlines to join the CRAF, they must commit at least 30 percent of their long-range passenger fleet and 15 percent of their long-range cargo planes (Fact Sheet, 2004). These aircraft must also be U.S. registered, capable of over water operations, and have at least four complete crews assigned for each aircraft (Fact Sheet, 2004). Airlines that participate in CRAF have provided vital support to our military since the Korean War (Graham, David, 2003). The Persian Gulf War was the first official activation of the CRAF, where two thirds of the troops and one quarter of the air cargo was moved by commercial airplanes (Graham, 2003). Though not officially activated, the CRAF is currently supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, providing nearly double the amount of aircraft that the DoD has estimated for its most demanding war strategies. This paper will provide a brief explanation of the purpose of the CRAF, its history, the effectiveness of the program, and a quick look towards the future of the CRAF.
In Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Iraqi forces fired 93 Scud missiles at coalition forces in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. (Rostker) Air Defense Artillery (ADA) played an immensely significant role in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm with units from 11th Brigade Air Defense Artillery and the 32d Air Defense Command rapidly deploying into theater. The effectiveness of the units and their roles in fighting this war proved that Air Defense Artillery was critical to the success of the campaign. Although Patriot Batteries placed strategically throughout Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Israel played a tremendous tactical role in these wars, High-Medium Air Defense (HIMAD) was not the only type of surface to air missile system in place to protect ground forces and valuable military assets. Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) units also deployed with the air defense units. These weapon systems, integrated with ground forces, provided air defense to dominate against aircraft and Tactical Ballistic Missiles (TBM) on the front lines.
PRECISION ENGAGEMENT provides NORAD the capability to precisely engage threats throughout the full range of our surveillance coverage to ensure off-shore threat engagement well before air and space weapons threaten Canadian or American citizens. This requires agile platforms with lethal munitions to enage targets more responsively and accurately from longer distances and precise, immediate operational assessments with the agility to re-engage if required. The system will include a flexible, near real-time targeting architecture, including space-based wide area surveillance, rapid identification, tracking, and near real-time sensor to shooter links.
Reading, Gwem. "Radar Operator in WW2." Letter. 8 Nov. 2003. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. BBC WW2 People's War. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
"Radar during World War II." - GHN: IEEE Global History Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. .
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Initially designed as an anti-aircraft system, Patriot became operational in 1985. (Patriot, 2013) Patriot fires a missile from its launching station to engage an aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle, cruise missile or a tactical ballistic missile. In 1991, Operation Desert Storm had kicked off and Patriot added missile-interception. Patriot anti-tactical ballistic missile capability phase 2 (PAC-2) had the first wartime engagement of a tactical rocket by an anti-tactical ballistic missile in history. Patriot upgraded to the PAC-3 missile that utilizes hit-to-kill technology making it over ninety percent success rate on engagements. Patriot is constantly undergoing improvements and remains one of the most sophisticated air defense technologies in the world today. (Kraus, 2000; Patriot,
Headquarters, Department of the Army (29 August 2007), FM 3-11.20 Technical Escort Battalion Operations, pgs 1-1 thru 2-14
I have organized this paper into five distinct sections; mission, task organization, capabilities, limitations, and finally the conclusion. After the reading and comprehension of this paper, you should have gained a basic understanding of the Special Forces (SF) Chemical Reconnaissance Detachments (CRD). The following paper is mixed with Unclassified (UCI) and For Official Use Only (FOUO) information. FOUO is annotated at the beginning of all For Official Use Only information, the rest of the paper is UCI. If you wish to share this information paper with others, please at a minimum; confirm identity of the person prior to providing (FM 380-5, 2000). For further handling instructions please refer to FM 380-5, or contact me, I will gladly answer all questions.
It was originally assumed that the SDI program was a virtually perfect defense against a large intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, attacks, which required very competent weapons. An ICBM has three levels of flight; the boost phase, the midcourse phase, and the terminal phase. With the SDI program, a space-based directed energy, or a laser, weapon would be used to destroy ICBM’s in the boost phase. Ground-based, space-based lasers or continental weapons could be used to destroy ICBM’s in midcourse, and ground-based beam weapons and missile interceptors could be used to destroy ICBM’s in the terminal phase. But as the goals of the program have evolved toward more realistic ambitions, the requirements for highly competent weapons diminished. Therefore, the initial focus on space-based directed energy weapons gradually shifted toward interest in ground-based kinetic energy weapons.
There are many agencies that have the ability to perform Signals Intelligence, electronic reconnaissance and most of all signals intelligence from all available sources inducive to the environment. The United States Army uses the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) as its main entity for signals collection. The Joint STARS platform was designed to provide a highly effective, real-time, collection tool to the ground task force commanders during battlefield engagements, but for the past ten years, the sensor has been used for peacekeeping missions. Army analysts can predict the enemy’s behavior by identifying choke points, potential avenues of approach and operating patterns such as supply routes and logistical points. The analysis gives the ground commander a more complete view of the enemy’s weaknesses. The United States Air Force employs the Joint STARS in a different mission than the Army. The Air Force uses Joint STARS as a battlefield management tool versus a collection tool as used for by the Army. The Air Force uses the platform to provide immediate and direct support to the Air Component Commander and continue to observe the enemy’s movement from a far distance in the sky. Providing essential data to commanders such as size, direction, and speed of the adversaries, with minimum casualties while under battlefield conditions, makes the Joint STARS an extremely effective tool. The Air Force also employs the Predator vehicles, which are unmanned aerial vehicles that are used for reconnaissance.
The U.S. army has come up with a digital warfare system called Army Battle Command System. This system can scan digital street maps, monitor enemy positions, zoom in on individual buildings through satellite imagery and download instructions from commanders. The Army Battle Command System has been but in to a hand full of Humvees in Iraq. This technology was originally designed for battlefield combat which was tanks and helicopters, but now they have found that it is much more useful for hunting rebel leaders and trailing street fighters.
Tice, Brian P. (1991). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – The Force Multiplier of the 1990s. Airpower Journal.