The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., has awarded $256 million to Northrop Grumman to proceed with design and analysis of the next-generation wide area surveillance system under the E-10 Technology Demonstration Program. Remember, the E-10 was slated to be the replacement for current-day intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance platforms, like the E-8 Joint STARS and E-3 AWACS, but fell to the budget-driven Quadrennial Defense Review axe. Defense analysts predict the E-10 goes nowhere, but the technology could prove useful elsewhere.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
