3 ms·

I believe you're thinking JSTARs? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_E-8_Joint_STARS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_E-8_Joint_STA...

• 0xffff2 6y ago
  >but the JSTARs matches the "big plane" better Sounds like you would know better than me, but aren't both the E-3 and E-8 based on a 707 platform? And don't you need both? If you're doing an air superiority mission you need an AWACS. If you're doing CAS you need JSTARS, right?
  • SEJeff 6y ago
    Yes, you're actually correct here. I interacted often with the JSTARs crew (we were on the same base in Mosul for a few months) and not as often with the AWACS crews. JSTARs was the first thing I thought of when you said big plane with radar though as it is literally a big plane with the sole purpose of SAR. The AWACS is more or less a similar thing, but with additional EW (electronic warfare) kit and sweeps the sky. They're complimentary although the AWACS is more relevant today than the JSTARs is. Most of the hardware in the JSTARs hasn't been updated in decades and it is starting to show its age. We had trouble integrating our realtime video feeds from our UAV with the telemetry feed from the JSTARs because it is just clunky and old.