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.
Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, the Department of the Air Force’s top internal watchdog, has been nominated to lead Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.