Northrop Grumman has completed two ground test milestones for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System, taking the Missile Defense Agency-run program closer to its 2008 launch date. The site for the final ground segment acceptance test was Schriever AFB, Colo., culminating work begun more than two years ago, according to a company release. Schriever also was the site for the readiness test, a 72-hour event that proved the ground system could operate the first two STSS satellites. The system successfully demonstrated surveillance, detection, tracking, and reporting of a simulated test target launch from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
