The Aging Aircraft Systems Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, believe they have found a “more robust” 1553 data bus—the component that enables many avionics systems to communicate—that could be used for thousands of older USAF aircraft. The current 1553 simply isn’t up to the task of shuttling data for many of today’s subsystems, according to Capt. Bernie Beigh, program manager for what is called the Extended 1553 data bus. Collaborating with the Age Squad are engineers at the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patt and Oklahoma Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla. With the new data bus, USAF will not have to rewire entire aircraft to enable them to use new technology like the Joint Tactical Radio System and other high-bandwidth systems. Of course, this is just one problem with older aircraft. Read our article “Checking Up on Old Aircraft.”
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.