The Air Force selected Boeing for a $181 million contract to upgrade the fire control radar on the B-1B bomber fleet. The reliability and maintainability improvement program (RMIP) is expected to take nine years to complete. The company is to deliver modification kits that will replace the receiver and processor in the bombers beginning in 2011. The kit will increase the radar systems’ reliability and substantially improve the bomber’s combat readiness, according to Kurt Eberhart, the manager of Boeing’s B-1 radar program.
The Air Force is moving forward with a new, algorithm-driven system to help U.S. Northern Command better detect airborne threats. NORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which are tasked with protecting the homeland from attack, depend on a slew of radars and other data systems to monitor U.S.…