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.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.