The USAF retired the first of 16 E-8C JSTAR aircraft on 10 February. (US Air Force)
The US Air Force (USAF) retired its first Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System on 10 February.
The Georgia Air National Guard's 116th Air Control Wing at Robins Air Force Base (AFB), in co-operation with the 461st Air Control Wing, announced that the aircraft (serial number 92-3289), which was the first to arrive at Robins AFB in 1996, left on that day for its final flight with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. The aircraft arrived at AMARG on 11 February.
This marks the beginning of the divestment of the E-8C JSTAR fleet, which had been officially signed off in late 2021. A total of four aircraft will be retired in fiscal year (FY) 2022, leaving 12 E-8C in service.
The USAF said that, following the E-8C JSTAR retirement, airmen at Robins will be transitioned to four new missions that will be deployed at the base. The missions are the Advanced Battle Management System family of systems, an E-11 Battlefield Airborne Communication Node squadron, a Spectrum Warfare Group, and a Battle Management Command and Control unit.
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