The Air Force’s analysis of alternatives on how to recapitalize the E-8C JSTARS fleet specifically ruled out a variant of the Navy’s new P-8 Poseidon patrol jet, said Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz Tuesday. “The solution for JSTARS is probably not the P-8 for us,” said Schwartz during an address at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. The Air Force doesn’t have enough money for a “new-start successor to the E-3 [AWACS] and E-8,” said Schwartz. He noted that the service would improve the JSTARS sensor, but “we’re not going to re-engine” the E-8Cs and can’t tolerate a fleet with mixed engines. The AOA found that “the more attractive option is a business-class aircraft with cheek sensors that operates at 40,000 feet-plus, and at much less flying-hour cost,” said Schwartz. That’s “probably the right solution set,” but unaffordable right now, he said. Boeing has been pushing the P-8 to the Air Force, claiming that the service could buy a whole new fleet of aircraft with a better radar for the price of re-engining JSTARS aircraft.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
