The Air Force has invested $7.5 million to replace the B-52 bomber’s weapons testers—the equipment that certifies the elderly bombers can still release their weapons. The Oklahoma Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla., signed a contract with Boeing earlier this year for the work under what’s called the multi-user system tester-armament next generation—MUSTANG—program. MUSTANG will replace three different testers, two of which date from the 1970s, reports the Tinker Take-Off newspaper. Boeing is to complete its work by May 2007.
The successful second flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., also included a first for the company—the launcher’s booster stuck its landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
