Northrop Grumman says it has tested an enhanced targeting capability on a Joint STARS test aircraft, on which crews demonstrated “precision and long-term tracking of maritime targets.” Testers also used a current standard off-the-shelf server, integrating it into the aircraft’s data management baseline. Use of COTS hardware is not new to Joint STARS; Northrop changed over the entire fleet to “open systems” configuration in 2005. Northrop received a contract for the Enhanced Land/Maritime Mode system earlier this year.
Less than a day after arriving in the Middle East, F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April 2024.