According to a recent U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa news release, the U.S. Air Force has deployed an E-8C Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft to Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
An E-8C battle management aircraft assigned to the 116th Air Control Wing, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., has deployed to Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
This aircraft is the U.S. Air Force’s primary platform for battle management and tracking of ground targets. Its primary mission is to provide theater ground and air commanders with ground surveillance to support attack operations and targeting that contributes to the delay, disruption, and destruction of enemy forces.
The radar and computer subsystems on the E-8C can gather and display detailed battlefield information on ground forces. The information is relayed in near-real-time to the Army and Marine Corps common ground stations and to other ground command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, or C4I, nodes.
The E-8C is a modified Boeing 707-300 series commercial airframe extensively remanufactured and modified with the radar, communications, operations and control subsystems required to perform its operational mission. The most prominent external feature is the 27-foot (8 meters) long, canoe-shaped radome under the forward fuselage that houses the 24-foot (7.3 meters) long, side-looking phased array antenna.
The deployment of JSTARS to the European theater demonstrates U.S. commitment to our allies and partners in the region.
on September 20, 2019, U.S. Air Force Deploys EC-130H Compass Call Electronic Warfare Aircraft In Middle East.
The deployment plane appears to be a part of measures employed by the U.S. and its regional allies in response to the September 14 Abqaiq–Khurais attack.
In a large-scale operation, ten suicide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the Houthis attacked early on September 14 two strategic oil facilities in the eastern Saudi areas of Buqayq and Khurais.
The Trump administration blamed Iran for the strikes that appeared to have been executed with cruise missiles, casting doubt on claims made by the Yemeni Houthi group that drones were used. Authorities in Tehran denied the accusation.
President Donald Trump on Sunday evening tweeted that the US has “reason to believe that we know” who is responsible for an attack on a Saudi Arabian oil field and the country is “locked and loaded depending on verification” following the crippling strike.
