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The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was selected by the U.S. Army to develop the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS). The company was awarded $88 million firm-fixed-price contract to develop and integrate the mission package, through the 24 month Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase, delivering up to 10 EMARSS systems. EMARSS addresses part of the operational requirements contemplated for the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS). It will be designed to operate as part of the Aerial Exploitation Battalions (AEB), which are assigned to the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). When operated in support of theater commands, the...

5/4/2010 - KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Officials activated the Air Force's newest MC-12 Liberty squadron in a ceremony here May 1. The 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron has been reactivated many times in the squadron's fairly unique history, said Col. John A. Cherrey, the commander of the 451st Expeditionary Operations Group and host of the ceremony. "It started in 1943 in World War II when the members of the unit flew B-17 (Flying Fortresses) and B-24 (Liberators)," he said. "Later, they were reactivated during Vietnam when they flew EC-47s and did a lot of work with a special operations wing...

/8/2010 - KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Airmen from the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing here welcomed one of the newest members of the Air Force's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance weapons systems to Kandahar Airfield March 29. The MC-12 Liberty aircraft is a manned special-mission turboprop aircraft designed for ISR and brings a different capability to the fight, said Lt. Col. Darren Halford, the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron commander. The aircraft flew its first combat sortie here April 1. The MC-12 Liberty provides real-time tactical ISR, with analysts and aircrew deployed together for seamless operations and maximum interaction with joint ground...

The U.S. Air Force is pushing the idea that manned reconnaissance aircraft, like its new MC-12, are preferred, by ground troops, to UAVs. The pitch is that troops feel more comfortable if the recon aircraft overhead has some people in it. This is odd, since troops on the ground often have no idea where the people they talk to, via radio, are, and don't much care as long as they get the help they need. The real problem is that there not enough people on the ground who know how to talk to an aircraft overhead and get a smart...

A new Air Force surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft has successfully completed its debut combat mission, military officials said last week. The MC-12 Liberty is a turboprop aircraft with a specialized four-person crew that provides full-motion video and signals intelligence. Essentially, it is a manned, souped-up version of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that roam the skies above Iraq and Afghanistan. The Liberty is "the first of its kind," Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary North, commander of 9th Air Force and U.S. Air Forces Central, said in an Air Force news release. "What our Air Force teams at our various headquarters...