Replacing 286 computer processors and a host of other 1980s-vintage analog technologies is at the core of the comprehensive B-2 bomber upgrade program, said Dave Mazur, Northrop Grumman’s B-2 program manager, on Thursday. “We’re really building a new B-2 from the inside out,” said Mazur at a company press conference in Washington, D.C. The overall B-2 upgrade is intended to permit the bomber to continue to serve through 2058; it includes many avionics improvements, common line-replaceable units, new antennas, satellite connectivity, and a fiberoptic backbone to bring the B-2 up to modern standards. The changes will eliminate parts supply problems that have affected the bomber’s readiness, said Mazur. The B-2 Radar Modernization Program is already done, having wrapped in December, ahead of schedule, he noted during the Feb. 14 event. During programmed depot maintenance, Northrop Grumman also resurfaces the B-2, making sure the airplane’s “outer mold line” meets stealth requirements and ensuring that it can operate in an anti-access/area-denial battlefield. The company announced on Thursday that it recently received a contract covering phase-two development of an update to the B-2’s Defense Management System.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…