Type: E-20A Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Mark III
Crew: 2 (pilot/co-pilot), 2 Reserve Crew, 20 Radar Operators/Military Experts
Height: 16.92m
Length: 62.8m
Wingspan: 63.4m
Empty Weight: 115,000 Kg
MTOW: 245,000 Kg
Speed: 930 Km/h
Range: 17,750 km
Ceiling: 13,100 m
Propulsion: 2x Trent 1000
Thrust: 311 Kn Each
Radar: PEI 9950GTR with GMTI, FTI, and SAR Modes, LIDAR for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Detection, AN/APG-67 for Navigation and Collision avoidance
Countermeasures: flare and chaff pods, DIRCM
Price: $260 Million
The E-20A Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Mark III is a aircraft designed to replace the E-9 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Mark II designed several years ago. The reason stated for this replacement was that the Boeing 787-9 Airliner, which had become one of the most widely, used aircraft in the Pennsylvanian Air Force, with thousands of KC-45As and E-15As in active and reserve Service within 3 Branches of Pennsylvanian Service. The Pennsylvanian Air Force, the Pennsylvanian Air Force Reserve, and the Pennsylvanian Air National Guard, providing a almost 1-1 service number comparison between the E-15A and E-55A, and the KC-40A and the KC-45A, with only the E-9, E-10, VC-30, E-5A, and KC-747 breaking the number in favor of the larger support aircraft in the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 Airframes.
The E-20A takes a lot of lessons learned from the aircraft it is intended to largely replace, the E-9 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Mark II, or commonly called the E-9 JSTARS Mk II. The only plans to keep the E-9 in service were for its greater capacity for passengers, allowing it to serve more fittingly as an Aerial Command Post than the E-20A, despite the E-20A having a longer radar range, more advanced electronics, and a longer Range due to the addition of fuel bladders, giving the aircraft 2,000 extra kilometers on its max range compared to the E-9.
While the E-20 operates much in the same way as the E-9 does, the PEI 9950GTR (Ground Tracking Radar), despite its name, is much more multirole, being able to reliably detect aircraft as well as helicopters and vehicles so long as they are below the aircrafts altitude. While it is certainly capable of tracking fighter jets, naturally, this is better left to the aircraft dedicated to this role, such as the E-55A and E-15A Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems, and this capability is usually not even known to many of the systems users due to a programming feature that is usually more often than not implemented into the radar that automatically filters out any contact going over 200 knots in airspeed.
While the radar itself works the exact same as the one found on the E-9, it is able to track up to 3,000 more contacts at any 1 given time, for a grand total of 5,000 contacts.
The Fixed Target Indicator (FTI) Mode allows the aircraft see a non mobile unit, such as a entrenched Tank or a stationary Artillery piece. After detection using this mode, it will be ascertained as to whether it is a Enemy, Friendly, or Neutral Contact.
The final mode on the radar, the Synthetic aperture Radar mode, allows the E-9 to have up to date topography readings on the land in its radar range. This mode also allows the Aircraft to detect hidden mines that are not detectable using a metal detector, such as Plastic Anti-Personnel and Anti-Vehicle mines that are buried underground, allowing the E-9 to also be using in Minefield detection and allow a ground unit to move in and clear it out. This mode can also be used to an extent to detect underwater mines, though it is not very good at this.
If the object is not an airborne object, and is indeed a moving ground object, it will then be represented as a White dot on the Digital Wall map, where the Army or Marine Specialists will determine if it is either (A) Civilian (B) Army-Hostile © Army-Friendly (D) Army-Neutral or (E) Unknown/Unable to be identified.
(A) Civilian
If it is a Civilian contact, than the White dot representing it will either turn Grey, representing a Neutral Contact, or will disappear from the Map.
(B) Army-Hostile
If it is determined to be a Army-Hostile Contact, than the white dot will be replaced with a Red one, and one of the Specialists will either inform the Command Unit in the back of the aircraft of this, or will radio a ground station, to inform the Nearest Brigade or Battalion Level Commander of the discovery.
© Army-Friendly
If the Contact is ascertained to be a friendly Army Unit, than the White Dot representing it will either be replaced with a Blue Dot, representing that the ground unit is from the same Country as the E-20. If the ground unit is not from the same nation as the E-20, than it will be replaced by a green dot, representing that the unit is of a different nationality, but is allied.
(D) Army-Neutral
If the contact is found to be a Army unit, but is neither allied or hostile to the E-9, than the white dot will be replaced by a Black Dot, representing that the Unit is that of a Army, but is Neutral in the conflict.
(E) Unknown/Unable to be identified
If the contact is unable to be indentified for whatever reason, whether it being because the aircrafts crew cannot get into contact with a ground unit to find out if the contact is friendly but the Army/Marine Specialists cannot be certain that the contact is enemy, the White Dot will be replaced by a Cyan Dot, representing that the unit cannot be safely identified.
Depending on what the unit is decided to be, one of multiple things will be done. If the unit is found to be a Civilian Contact, than the data will be transferred to all other E-20As, and they will automatically transform their Contact on the Wall map for this unit to a Grey dot. If it is found to be a hostile Army unit, the same thing will occur, only with a Red Dot being put in the White Dots place. If the contact is found to a friendly Army Unit, the same thing will occur, with a Blue or Green dot being put in the White Dots place. If the unit is found to be a Neutral Army Unit, the same thing will occur but with the white dot being replaced by a black dot. Finally, if it turns out to be a UTBI (Unable to be Indentified) contact, the same thing will occur, with the white dot being replaced by a Cyan Dot.
The final Sensory ability for the E-20A is a LIDAR System, which can be used for various reasons, but was intended to be used as a NBC Detection unit, able to detect a Nuclear Weapon, Chemical Agent or a Biological Agent from very long distances.
The Aircrafts defenses come from the aircraft Flares, Chaff and Radar Jammer, but it also has a DIRCM intended to fool Infra Red guided missiles into flying right by the aircraft. The aircraft also has a half dozen towed Decoy Housings on the rear of the aircraft, providing a effective defense against state of the art Radar Guided Missiles.
While the E-20A is significantly smaller than its predecessor, the E-9, the Aircraft is just as effective, if not more so, as the E-9, making up for its lack of command facilities by having more advanced and more capable electronics than the E-9. In addition, this aircraft is not meant to operate alone, instead, it is intended to operate together with the still in development “Tactical Commander Aircraft-1”, or TCA-1, which is intended to operate with the E-20A and make up for its lack of Command Facilities.
