J-STARS gets new, more fuel-efficient engines Air Force Times December 18, 2008 The first E-8C Joint STARS retrofitted with new engines rolled out Wednesday at Northrop Grumman’s plant in Melbourne, Fla. “It flies higher, faster and stays over the battlefield much longer,” Northrop sector vice president Tom Vice said. The E-8C uses radar mounted in the belly of the jet to track movement on the ground and water, allowing commanders to know where the enemy is even at night or in bad weather. The new Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 engines have 22,000 pounds of thrust, allowing the E-8C to take off from a shorter runway. They also use 17 percent less fuel, require less maintenance and generate more power to run electronics than the old Pratt and Whitney TF33-102C engines. Col. James Lovell, commander of the 751st Electronics Systems Group, said the new engines have performed as expected, although further tests will come. “We have no disappointments with the test right now,” he said. The new engines also will eliminate engine overheating — a danger that has sometimes limited the J-STARS to nighttime operations during the summer. The Air Force eventually wants to re-engine all 17 Joint STARS. The Georgia Air National Guard’s 116th Air Control Wing flies the Air Combat Command planes out of Robins Air Force Base, Ga. (Archives)