Boeing won a $55.3 million contract to replace the B-1 bomber’s original inertial navigation system with a ring laser “gyro” system with no physically moving parts, announced the company. “With no moving parts to wear out and repair, this upgrade will dramatically increase system reliability,” said Rick Greenwell, Boeing’s B-1 program director. Traditional gyros measure an aircraft’s attitude relative to the resistance generated by a spinning mass. The new instrument, instead, compares the relative time in which opposing laser beams cover a fixed circuit, explains Air & Space magazine. Boeing will begin retrofitting the Lancer fleet with the new kits in January at Dyess AFB, Tex., and Ellsworth AFB, S.D., states the company’s release. The company expects to upgrade the entire B-1B fleet in three years, rolling out the final aircraft in 2015. Flight testing of the new instrumentation concluded last July.
Concerned about how artificial intelligence might be used to generate target lists or operational plans, lawmakers want to expand limits on autonomous weapons to address mission planning and target selection. The House Armed Services Committee's version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization bill would direct the Pentagon to revise Defense…