The first E-8C Joint STARS ground surveillance aircraft has received an upgraded that provides beyond-line-of-site communications capability that essentially moves the E-8 from a dial-up-type Internet capability to broadband. Working with prime contractor Northrop Grumman, the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., implemented an Urgent Operational Need request when operators in the US Central Command Theater of operations requested the upgrade to extend their connectivity to secure DOD Internet networks and enable them to transfer larger data and imagery files. The ESC-led team has compressed the normal acquisition process from years to months to begin the modifications, which takes about six days per aircraft, and expects to complete all 17 E-8C aircraft by year’s end. (Hanscom report by Chuck Paone)
DARPA Changing Directors Again in Third Recent Shuffle
Jan. 21, 2021
The Biden administration is reportedly tapping Stefanie Tompkins to run the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, spurring the third leadership change at the secretive Pentagon organization since January 2020. Defense One first reported Tompkins’s "pre-decisional" appointment to the post on Jan. 19. The White House did not respond to a…