div.WordSection1 
Northrop Grumman has completed a major review of its new software upgrade for the B-2 stealth bomber fleet, company officials announced April 24. The upgrade, part of the Air Force’s “flexible strike” phase 1 program, is designed to increase the bombers’ capabilities while driving down maintenance costs. Northrop Grumman is simplifying the software used by the B-2 to manage and dispense its weapons, said Dave Mazur, vice president and B-2 program manager with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. “Today we have several standalone programs that each manage a specific type of mission. We’re replacing that software with a single program that can manage all of those mission types,” he said. The software’s preliminary design review showed that Northrop understands the interactions between the aircraft and its weapon systems, and the new software will manage these processes correctly. The PDR was completed in February at Northrop’s Oklahoma City, Okla., facility. The flexible strike program is the first B-2 modernization effort to take advantage of the communications tools provided by the first increment of the B-2’s EHF satellite communications program, which includes faster processing and increased data storage.
With key members of Congress wavering on the possibility of a $350 billion defense reconciliation bill, defense experts told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the Pentagon is likely drawing up budget backup plans—but such plans would face hard choices between high-end weapons and low-cost drones and other programs in…