Boeing has integrated the hardware and software for a B-2 bomber prototype system within its Family of Advanced Beyond-line-of-sight Terminals, which the company expects to “provide critical, secure beyond-line-of-sight communications capability,” according to a Boeing news release. The prototype system—a Block 4 software-defined radio—specifically supports the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite integration efforts for the B-2 bomber. The goal of FAB-T is to provide “strategic forces with a multi-mission capable family of software-defined radios that use a common open system architecture to link to different satellites and enable information exchange between ground, air , and space platforms.”
As the Air Force pieces together its fiscal 2023 budget, due early next year, it must think not only about the immediate future, but also five years down the road. That’s a challenge right now, said Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for strategy,…