Northrop Grumman expects to enter production in 2010 with its Banshee electronic warfare architecture for the B-52 bomber, following successful flight demonstrations concluded in June, Kevin Weppner, Northrop’s director of business development for RF combat and information systems, told reporters Sept. 14 at AFA’s Air & Space Conference. “EW systems today need to be flexible, highly integrated and interoperable with other systems such as Link 16 and other sensors,” noted Weppner. He said the Banshee is lightweight, mission scalable, uses common, reusable components, and features low cost, high-performance microwave converters and digital receivers. “Because the B-52s are going to be in service for a long time, we think we’ll update and modernize every one of those 76 bombers.” Weppner said. Northrop expects the architecture to eventually be extended to other legacy aircraft such as the F-15, F-16, and A-10.
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…