Boeing successfully conducted its first test flight of a USAF E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft equipped with Block 40/45 upgrades. Company officials say this upgrade program is the largest enhancement in the history of the Air Force’s AWACS fleet. The three-hour test flight on July 15 demonstrated the compatibility between the upgrades and the aircraft’s existing systems. Upgrades include new mission computing hardware and software, upgraded radar equipment and navigation and communications systems. Testers will be making 24 flights over the next few months.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
