Air Force to retire three JSTARS aircraft in FY-19

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson confirmed Feb. 22 at the Air Force Association conference in Orlando, FL, the service plans to retire three aircraft from the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System fleet in fiscal year 2019, bringing the fleet to 13 tail numbers.

Those three aircraft are "hangar queens," and retirement would not change the capabilities provided to combatant commanders because they are not currently flying, Wilson said.

She added the service's decision not to fund the JSTARS recapitalization in FY-19 could lead it to buy more RQ-4 Global Hawks and MQ-9 Reapers.