Louisiana's Military Heritage:

     Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems

The Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems (NGIS) facility at Chennault International Airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana, first opened in 1995.  Now an industrial airpark, Chennault was formerly a Strategic Air Command Base (Lake Charles AFB and later Chennault AFB).  This division of Northrop Grumman is involved in the production of the Joint STARS aircraft for the U.S. Air Force.  The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Systems (Joint STARS) is an airborne battle management and command-and-control platform.  It conducts ground surveillance:  detecting, classifying, and tracking hostile targets and then communicating real-time information to Air Force and Army command posts.  The system can also be used in peacekeeping and crisis management scenarios.

An E-8C Joint STARS aircraft provides command-

and-control for ground and air theater commanders.

Official U.S. Air Force photograph.

The E-8C is a modified Boeing 707-300 series commercial aircraft that is extensively refurbished and modified at the Lake Charles installation.  From there, the aircraft move to an NGIS facility in Melbourne, Florida, where the electronics are installed and tested.  The Lake Charles facility has repeatedly been ranked as the most productive plant in the Northrop Grumman family of companies.

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Sources used in the compilation of this article:

Chennault International Airport website.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems website.

The United States Air Force website.

**Copyright 1997-2008 by Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission**