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Under contract to the U.S. Air Force, Northrop Grumman's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has completed its first 18.5-hour sortie over the North Pole to validate new flight management software. The computer upgrade system, which is the cornerstone for all future B-2 upgrades, is now ready to enter low-rate initial production. The Extremely High Frequency (EHF) Increment 1 system verification review demonstrated the computer upgrade program successfully satisfied the government's requirements. The sortie also included air-refueling to and from the North Pole from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The verification reviews and flight test were the culmination of over two years...

With a recent contract award from Northrop Grumman to provide electronic support measures (ESM) on the B-2 Spirit bomber, BAE Systems will be providing electronic warfare on all three U.S. Air Force low-observable platforms, including the F-22 and F-35 fighters, according to the company. The new ESM system will replace the original Lockheed Martin AN/APR-50 defensive management system on the 20 B-2s. The ESM system works in conjunction with the radar warning receiver to detect and alert aircrew to electronic threats. Although it says it was selected “in a competitive bid process over the incumbent and industry’s top electronic warfare...

Russia is upgrading 30 of its Tu-22M3 bombers to the Tu-22M3M standard. The first of the M3M models recently entered service. This new version has improved electronics, is able to deliver smart bombs, and has in-flight refueling capabilities restored. Other components of upgraded aircraft were refurbished as needed. This is expected to keep these 30 Tu-22M3Ms in service for another decade or more. All 30 upgrades will not be completed until the end of the decade. A decade ago Russia had over a hundred Tu-22M3 "Backfire" bombers in service. Or so it was claimed, as these aircraft didn't fly much....

America's new long-range bomber program is "underway," will involve somewhere between 80 and 100 planes and will be delivered sometime in the mid-2020's. "And that's about all we're saying," Air Force Secretary Mike Donley told reporters. It's been known for some time that the bombers will not fly alone but will be part of a family of systems that may include UAVs and other systems. The really interesting part of all this is the secrecy and why it's so dark. It would seem to indicate several things: that the U.S. does not want potential competitors such as China or Russia...

new F-16 life extension, bomber and space-procurement plan will be included in the U.S. Air Force’s forthcoming Fiscal 2012 budget proposal. These efforts are possible during a time of belt-tightening because the service found $34 billion worth of projects to cut in order to fund higher-priority initiatives, says Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. Absent from Donley’s comments last week was mention of the budding effort to buy a new fast-jet trainer (Alenia, BAE and Lockheed Martin/Korea Aerospace Industries are poised to compete for this) as well as a replacement for aging Bell Helicopter UH-1Ns supporting nuclear convoys and executive lift....

The Air Force hasn’t been told when to begin work on a new long-range strike aircraft, or even what it should be able to do. The Air Force is hoping there’s a new bomber included in the Fiscal 2012 defense budget planned for release next month. If there is, it will be the centerpiece of a new portfolio of long-range strike weapons systems, which will encompass standoff missiles, older bombers, airborne electronic attack (AEA), carrier-based aircraft, and possibly a quick-reaction missile able to hit any global target within an hour. Deliberations on the long-range strike system have been a subject...

The last 28th Bomb Wing B-1B Lancer received the necessary modifications to operate the Sniper advanced targeting pod Oct. 18. The advanced targeting pod acts as a long-range camera, which can pinpoint targets for precision strikes and close-air-support missions. "It's hard to imagine doing close-air support without it," said Capt. William Louie, the 34th Bomb Squadron weapons systems officer. "The sniper pod and the B-1 go together very well, especially with the expanded mission of the bomber." Since its combat debut in 2008, the Sniper pod has become an invaluable tool in assisting coalition servicemembers on the ground in hostile...

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $14 million contract extension to integrate its Common Link Integration Processing (CLIP) system on B-1B and B-52 aircraft, providing aircrews with enhanced battlefield awareness, communications capabilities and weapons management. Under the 17-month contract extension, Northrop Grumman will support software integration, ground and flight tests, and Air Force and joint interoperability certifications. All 66 aircraft in the B-1 bomber fleet and 94 aircraft in the B-52 fleet will be CLIP enabled. CLIP is a software package that allows existing platforms without a tactical data link, as well as platforms with different...

.: Northrop Grumman Corporation has begun flight testing the new computing hardware and communications infrastructure that will eventually allow the B-2 stealth bomber to send and receive battlefield information by satellite more than 100 times faster than today. Since Sept. 1, the company has conducted a series of test flights using a B-2 test aircraft stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight test program is part of Increment 1 of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 extremely high frequency (EHF) satellite communications program. Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor for the B-2 Spirit, the flagship of the...

When the Air Force announced an $11.9 billion sustainment contract to Boeing last week for the venerable and enduring B-52 eyebrows shot up along the Potomac, especially on Capitol Hill. It appeared to provide roughly $127 million per airplane spread out over eight years, one hell of a lot of money for a plane that originally cost $9.3 million in 1955 (somewhere around $76 million per in current dollars). So we checked with the Air Force to get some details on just what was happening and why. Congressional aides were flabbergasted by the contract, for which no money has been...

The US Air Force has awarded Boeing a potentially $11.9 billion contract to support weapon system modernisation of its B-52 bomber fleet. "This contract will include several delivery orders over an eight-year period. This is a contracting vehicle that will allow engineering sustaining contracts, studies, production and other activities to occur in support of the B-52," says Boeing. The company expects to receive its first funds in relation to the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity deal on 30 September, it says.

B-1B Lancer achieved 10,000 flight hours here, June 12. After 34th Aircraft Maintenance Unit professionals braved temperatures in excess of 110 degrees Fahrenheit preparing the aircraft for the flight, the aircrew stepped in and performed the milestone mission, despite an 18-hour duty day. "The tremendous amount of man-hours spent maintaining the B-1 and the sacrifices the maintainers endure away from their families, working extremely long hours in austere locations, has facilitated this historic event," said Master Sgt. Mathias Stewart, 34 AMU Airframe Powerplant General B-1 flight chief. "I am an extremely big fan of all maintainers, especially the crew chiefs...

Last week, we wrote that the Air Force Council, the blue suiters board of directors that advises the air chief, was considering deep cuts to force structure to meet aggressive savings targets laid out by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. One option they are reportedly considering is early retirement of all 66 B-1B Lancer bombers, last delivered in the late 1980s. Yesterday, the Lancer fleet got a hearty shout-out from new installed Afghan commander Gen. David Petraeus. “It is a great platform,” he told senators at his confirmation hearing. “It carries a heck of a lot of bombs… and it has...

The 30-year aviation plan that the Pentagon presented to Congress hints at expectations for commissioning a new long-range bomber fleet for the Air Force and Navy. This is also the first time that the Pentagon submitted a joint plan for the Air Force and Navy, according to the Air Force Times. According to the plan, there are no bomber purchases planned over a 10-year period. Instead the Defense Department will spend “considerable sums on modernizing legacy air mobility and long-range strike platforms. The picture will change in the 2020s, when priority will likely shift to buying long-range strike and strategic...

The $2-billion question in development of a new bomber is whether a major black-world demonstration program is already underway, with Northrop Grumman as the contractor. This hypothesis makes sense of a series of clues that have appeared since 2005. In that year, Scott Winship, program manager for Northrop Grumman’s X-47 unmanned combat aircraft system (UCAS), mentioned that the company—responding to a U.S. Air Force interest in a bigger version of the then-ongoing Joint UCAS project—had proposed an X-47C with very long endurance, a 10,000-lb.-plus weapon load and a 172-ft. wingspan, the same as a B-2. The idea was to match...

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently indicated the U.S. Air Force is likely going to receive funding set aside for a new long-range bomber, according to media reports. In April, Gates cut several high-profile projects, which led to Air Force officials being disappointed that funding for the bomber could have vanished. However, the bomber program is expected to receive at least $1 billion, with the number expected to significantly increase in the years to come. "We are probably going to proceed with a long-range strike initiative coming out of the Quadrennial Defense Review and various other reviews going on," Gates...

The Pentagon's delayed funding for a new Air Force long-range bomber is likely to be included in its fiscal spending for 2011. The on-again-off-again program has been in limbo since U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates froze it earlier this year, saying it should be assessed in the Defense Department's Quadrennial Defense Review, which reviews weapons programs every four years. Initial assessments of that review, officials say, suggest the need for both manned and unmanned long-range strike capabilities. "We are probably going to proceed with a long-range strike initiative coming out of the Quadrennial Defense Review and various other reviews going...