The Pentagon’s latest Selected Acquisition Report shows a schedule slip for the Air Force’s B-2 bomber radar modernization program. This comes as no surprise since service officials reported earlier to Congress about the B-2 getting kicked out of its spectrum. USAF tried to speed up its radar modernization program because the new equipment would incorporate the frequency change, but the new antenna requires more technical maturity, as noted by the House Appropriations Committee in its markup of the 2008 defense spending bill. The slip in this program could be six months or more.
The Air Force plans to add external weapons pylons on the B-1B bomber, both to increase the number of aircraft that can test hypersonic missiles and expand the Lancer’s loadout as USAF transitions to the B-21 bomber.