The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command tapped BAE Systems to apply a situational awareness and targeting upgrade to some 100 A-10A aircraft. The Air Force does plan to upgrade all Warthogs to the full precision engagement upgrade C model, but in the meantime some Hogs are getting various “interim” upgrades. According to a BAE Systems release, this modification will “improve pilot awareness” of friendly ground force locations and “reduce pilot workload by automatically transferring target coordinates within the aircraft’s internal systems and to other aircraft on the network.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.