Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS

what is it?

The Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) is a retired United States Air Force (USAF) airborne ground surveillance, battle management and command and control aircraft. It tracked ground vehicles and some aircraft, collected imagery, and relayed tactical pictures to ground and air theater commanders. Until its retirement in 2023 the aircraft was operated by both active duty USAF and Air National Guard units, with specially trained U.S. Army personnel as additional flight crew.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · 44.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 722 km/hcruise speed
• size 152.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 17made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 38 years ago, in 1988.
• 🚗Wingspan of 44.4 m: about 10 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 25 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1988-04

introduced

1991

retired

2023

status

retired

number built

17

role

airborne battle management and istar

makers

Northrop Grumman Corporation

engines

4× Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-102

crew

4

length

46.6 m

wingspan

44.4 m

height

13 m

max take-off weight

152.4 t

top speed

—

cruise speed

722 km/h

range

—

ceiling

12,802 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.