Boeing finished a combined preliminary and critical design review with the Air Force for its Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals, announced company officials. “This achievement indicates we are ready to begin implementation of our design,” said Boeing’s FAB-T Program Manager Paul Geery in the company’s Oct. 8 release. The review validated enhancements to FAB-T’s Presidential and national voice conferencing capability, states the release. PNVC is designed to provide secure communications to the President, Defense Secretary, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior military leaders in the chain of command of the nation’s nuclear arsenal. The review also “cleared the way” for internal FAB-T software deliveries, the first of which Boeing said it’s already completed. Boeing noted that the review came after the company converted its FAB-T work to a fixed-price contract mechanism in April. That move followed the Air Force early this year threatening to terminate Boeing’s work over dissatisfaction with the company’s progress. Switching to the fixed-price arrangement “demonstrates our commitment to providing best value and our confidence in our technical solution,” said Geery. (See also Making FAB-T a Reality.)
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…