Boeing announced Thursday that it has received an $84 million contract from the Air Force to perform additional software upgrades of the B-1B bomber’s avionics. The new deal authorizes the company to commence work on sustainment block 16. “This major block will enhance the aircraft’s color cockpit displays, data link, radar, and navigation,” said Mahesh Reddy, Boeing’s B-1 program director. Boeing introduces new avionic software once a year on the B-1. SB 14 is in flight test at Edwards AFB, Calif., with delivery scheduled in 2011. SB 15 will be delivered in 2012.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
