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.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
