U.S. Air Force mulls future of aging radar planes

By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force urgently
needs to replace its aging fleet of ground surveillance and
battle management planes, its top acquisition chief said on
Tuesday, while acknowledging tight budgets and competing
priorities have clouded the program's future.
William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force for
acquisition, said the current 18 E-8 Joint Surveillance Target
Attack Radar System aircraft, or JSTARS, were doing "incredible"
work in military operations, but nearly half the planes were out
for maintenance at any given time.
"The situation is urgent," LaPlante, who retires at the end
of this week, told reporters. "They're going to fall out of the
sky in 2017."
LaPlante said a final decision on whether to proceed with a
competition for new aircraft would come when the fiscal 2017
budget was released early next year.
Northrop Grumman Corp (N:NOC) NOC.N , which builds the existing
aircraft, has won one of three small contracts for early
development work on a replacement, teaming up with General
Dynamics Corp's GD.N Gulfstream. The others were awarded to
Lockheed Martin Corp (N:LMT) LMT.N , teamed with Canada's Bombardier
BBDb.TO and Boeing (N:BA) Co BA.N , which is offering a modified
737-700 commercial airliner.
The companies had expected the Pentagon to authorize
additional funds for system and platform demonstrations in
September, but that decision was postponed while officials
debated the future of the program.
LaPlante said the Air Force still viewed the planes as a
priority and had finalized its requirements for the replacement
aircraft. But he said other Defense Department factions wanted
to use the funds for additional Northrop unmanned Global Hawk
aircraft or other intelligence gathering equipment. Some also
questioned how the planes would function in a more complex and
sophisticated war environment.
LaPlante acknowledged that the Pentagon faced a "huge hole"
in building a fiscal 2017 budget and funding all the competing
priorities.
He said a two-year congressional budget agreement had made
the planning process easier this year, and he expected hard
decisions about programs like JSTARS by the end of December.
"It's a collective decision that ultimately goes to the
secretary of defense," he said.