Boeing officials say the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program that suffered a Nunn-McCurdy breach earlier this year is meeting test milestones, some of them “significantly ahead of schedule,” according to a company release. It flew the first AMP aircraft earlier this month with engineering upgrades that enhanced the aircraft’s heads-up display. That aircraft has since gone back to Edwards AFB, Calif., for further testing. A second Hercules in the program has received a software upgrade that provides a fully functional Flight Management System, essentially “eliminating the need for the navigator position in the cockpit.” Boeing expects to get a third aircraft this month. After the breach, the Air Force decided to reduce by around 80 the number of aircraft getting the AMP upgrade.
Facing competition from fast-growing startups, Lockheed Martin is speeding up production of an “affordable, scalable” hypersonic glide body, dubbed the Next Generation Glide Body, the firm said in a June 24 release.