The Joint STARS aircraft executed three Operational Utility Assessment flights and demonstrated its ability to guide anti-ship weapons against surface combatants at a variety of standoff distances in the NEW architecture.
The Joint STARS aircraft served as the network command-and-control node, as well as a node for transmitting in-flight target message updates to an AGM-154 C-1 Joint Standoff Weapon carried by Navy F/A-18's using its advanced long range tracking and targeting capability.
'The demonstration enabled participants to see how Joint STARS helps protect pilots by enabling the delivery aircraft to stay out of the anti-aircraft missile envelope of warships and shore based anti-aircraft missile batteries,' said Jay Casey, Northrop Grumman JSuW program manager.
'The fact that Joint STARS performed almost flawlessly is a testament to the exceptional efforts by the team and will help bring this critical net enabled weapons capability to the warfighter,' said U.S. Navy Capt. Carl Chebi, Precision Strike Weapons program manager."
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NATO Missile Defense for Europe
NATO has agreed to provide ballistic missile defense or BMD for all of Europe. This NATO BMD will protect NATO (European and American) military forces in Europe. It will also – for the very first time – protect the civilian population throughout Europe from ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction launched from the Middle East.
Much of this NATO missile defense for Europe – known as the European Phased Adaptive Approach – will actually be provided by the United States armed forces. This will include seaborne AEGIS missile defense on board US Navy ships in the Mediterranean, as well as land based radars and interceptor missiles.
This e-book describes how NATO missile defense for Europe will be organized and implemented.
