Electronic Systems Center is a product center of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Its mission is to develop and acquire command and control, communications, computer, and intelligence systems. ESC consists of professional teams specializing in engineering, computer science, and business management. The teams supervise the design, development, testing, production, and deployment of command and control systems. Two of ESC's most well-known developments were the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), developed in the 1970s, and the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JointSTARS), developed in the 1980s.
The Electronic Systems Center recently entered its fifth decade as the Air Force’s organization for developing and acquiring Command and Control (C2) systems. As of December 2004, ESC manages approximately two hundred programs ranging from secure communications systems to mission planning systems. ESC has an annual budget of over $3 billion and more than eighty-seven hundred personnel. In addition to the Air Force, ESC works with other branches of the U.S. military, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and foreign governments.
Due to restructuring within the Air Force Materiel Command, ESC will be inactivated no later than 1 October 2012.
Read more about Electronic Systems Center: History, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, List of ESD/ESC Commanders
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