The Air Force plans to replace the capability that it would have put on the now-canceled E-10 sensor and battle management airplane by upgrading the E-8 Joint STARS, according to Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. The service’s 18 E-8s will all get new radars and new engines, but not the CFM-56s that are on KC-135Rs. The big-bypass turbofans were too bulky and would have interfered with the radar, Hoffman told Air Force Magazine Friday. The insides of the E-8s will feature new workstations, too.
Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich assumed command of U.S. European Command on July 1, taking over the key assignment as the U.S. and its allies contend with a resurgent Russia and a grinding war in Ukraine.
