An Aeronautical Systems Center official says that Air Mobility Command now has eight C-5 airlifters that have completed the Avionics Modernization Program—one more than needed to restart operational test & evaluation. (Another two AMP-complete C-5s are due out this month.) The eight have the new “state-of-the-art” cockpit that is the precursor to the second phase—new engines—of the full C-5 modernization effort. Dave Schairbaum, deputy director of ASC’s C-5 Systems Group, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, says that the plan is to brief Lt. Gen. John Hudson, ASC commander and program executive officer for aircraft, this month then move into OT&E in April.
Today’s armament maintainers are tasked with performing flightline (O-Level) maintenance with an assortment of legacy test sets that greatly limit the ability to quickly and efficiently verify armament system readiness, diagnose failures, and ultimately return the aircraft to full mission...