Dick Banholzer, Boeing’s director of Global Strike Business Development, said the company is engaged in a number of new LRS-related programs. Several of these involve the B-1B fleet, he said. The company has also received a contract from the Air Force to conduct the “SPECTRE II” upgrade for the B-2 stealth bomber, a classified modernization effort. Asked for details, Banholzer said he was not at liberty to elaborate.
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…