Northrop Grumman announced Tuesday that its industry team has completed the system development and demonstration phase of the program to modernize the radars on the Air Force’s B-2A stealth bombers. “The completion of SDD adds momentum and confidence to our work equipping the B-2 fleet with the most modern radar technology,” said Dave Mazur, Northrop’s B-2 program manager. SDD included installing the new Raytheon-supplied radar gear, including advanced electronically scanned array antennas, on the B-2 test aircraft and first group of operational B-2s as well as delivering the spare parts for them. The program is now in its full-rate production phase, with installation of the new gear on all 20 B-2s expected to be complete in 2012, according to Northrop.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.