“After temporarily grounding four of its E-8C (J-STARS) aircraft last month over possible safety issues, the US Air Force (USAF) still has concerns about the quality of Northrop Grumman’s maintenance work and may need to inspect the rest of the fleet,” Aviation Week stated on Monday.
On September 23, Defense News reported that Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) Commander General Ellen Pawlikowski ordered the grounding of four J-STARS aircraft — almost a quarter of the total USAF fleet – over concerns about maintenance work done at the Northrop Grumman-led depot.
The four planes were inspected for possible flight safety flight issues on the ground at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia where the 116th Air Control Wing is based, Defense News said. The USAF J-STARS force has 16 aircraft and one training platform.
