The US Air Force has taken the first step in a newly revealed, eight-year process to develop and field a business jet-sized replacement for the Northrop Grumman E-8C joint surveillance target attack radar system (JSTARS), although the project still has no approved funding.
The JSTARS Recapitalisation (Recap) programme seeks to achieve an initial operational capability in 2022 with a “more efficient airframe” in the business jet class. It will be acquired using separate contracts for developing the aircraft, the airborne sensor, battle management command and control (BMC2) system and a communications subsystem.
The USAF revealed the strategy in a request for information to suppliers interested in bidding for the BMC2 system. The document was posted online on 23 January by the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center's electronic systems division at Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts.
Missing from the document is any indication of the programme’s funding status. The USAF budget request for the fiscal year 2014 budget did not include any line items entitled “JSTARS Recap”, nor did Congress add funding for such a project in the approved FY2014 omnibus appropriations bill that passed earlier this month.
But the release of the request for information on the new BMC2 system may indicate the USAF intends to request funding to launch the overall JSTARS Recap programme in FY2015. If funded, the project would create a rare opportunity for the aerospace industry to win a developmental contract, with several potential candidates available to compete.