Northrop Grumman will modernize the fleet of the United States Air Force (USAF) E-8C JSTARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System). According to the agreement made with Northrop Grumman under the JSTARS Systems Improvement Program III, Commander's Tactical Terminal / Hybrid Receive (CTT / HR) radio system is replaced with a new Air Force Tactical Receive System-Ruggedised (AFTRS-R).

With the AFTRS-R system, the Joint STARS fleet will be able to safely fulfill high-speed data transfer, combat management and intelligence sharing activities, regardless of environmental and combat conditions, and identify moving enemy targets such as air defense and ballistic missile systems.