The Air Force has let a $61 million contract to Boeing for two C-130 avionics upgrade kits, along with two aircrew training system devices, announced the company. This work is part of the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program’s low-rate initial production phase. Under C-130 AMP, the Air Force is updating the cockpits of 221 C-130H2, -H2.5, and-H3 transports. Boeing has now received orders for six of the 26 AMP kits planned during LRIP. The Pentagon increased that number from 20 last December. Already, workers at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga., are installing AMP kits on two C-130s at Warner Robins and expect to complete them this year. Boeing said the depot would induct the third C-130 late this year and the fourth one early next year for the upgrade. The two training devices are destined for Little Rock AFB, Ark., with delivery anticipated in 2014.
The Air Force’s Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile is behind schedule and may significantly overrun its expected cost, which could partially explain why the service is reviving the hypersonic AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid-Response Weapon.