The Air Force selected Boeing for a $181 million contract to upgrade the fire control radar on the B-1B bomber fleet. The reliability and maintainability improvement program (RMIP) is expected to take nine years to complete. The company is to deliver modification kits that will replace the receiver and processor in the bombers beginning in 2011. The kit will increase the radar systems’ reliability and substantially improve the bomber’s combat readiness, according to Kurt Eberhart, the manager of Boeing’s B-1 radar program.
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
