Boeing has integrated the hardware and software for a B-2 bomber prototype system within its Family of Advanced Beyond-line-of-sight Terminals, which the company expects to “provide critical, secure beyond-line-of-sight communications capability,” according to a Boeing news release. The prototype system—a Block 4 software-defined radio—specifically supports the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite integration efforts for the B-2 bomber. The goal of FAB-T is to provide “strategic forces with a multi-mission capable family of software-defined radios that use a common open system architecture to link to different satellites and enable information exchange between ground, air , and space platforms.”
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers Apr. 30 that the service’s biggest airlifter, the C-5 Galaxy, has a 37 percent mission capable rate—one of several challenges facing the mobility fleet.