An E-8C Joint STARS aircraft has completed a series of flights to see how well it could help guide anti-ship weapons against surface combatants at standoff distances. These activities were part of the Navy-led demonstration called joint surface warfare. To support the demo, members of the Joint STARS modernization branch at Hanscom AFB, Mass, developed prototype software called Link 16 network-enabled weapon for the Joint STARS testbed aircraft. With it, the aircraft served as the command-and-control node as well as a node for transmitting in-flight target updates to Navy joint standoff weapons during the three days of tests in September off of the coast of California. “From the Joint STARS perspective, the demonstration was completely successful,” said Brittany Ridings, who oversaw the JSW effort. (Hanscom report by Patty Welsh)
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.