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.
The Air Force has begun depriving new trainees of more sleep and will soon ramp up the stress level in Basic Military Training to better prepare Airmen for the increased strain of combat operations such as Epic Fury.
