J-STARS takes off with new engines Florida Today January 5, 2009 The military air worthiness testing of the U.S. Air Force E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System has started. Testing of the Joint-STARS aircraft and its four new Pratt & Whitney engines began Saturday and will last until spring, according to Northrop Grumman Corp., which is overseeing the testing in its role as prime contractor on the Joint-STARS project. Joint-STARS aircraft use a sophisticated Doppler radar to scan a region and detect, locate, classify, track and target hostile ground movements, communicating real-time information through secure data links. "We are another step closer to the benefits these new engines bring to our troops," said Tom Vice, vice president, Eastern Region, of Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector. "Joint STARS will climb faster, fly higher, and require fewer in-flight refuelings, which all translate to more time on station, providing valuable information to our ground troops." Some 1,700 workers in Melbourne are employed by Northrop Grumman for the Joint STARS program, and 200 to 300 additional workers will be hired during the next three to five years to work on other system upgrades. (Archives)