Jack Miller has told DoD Buzz that it could cover things like: Several well-known upgrades are under consideration for the B-52 fleet, but haven’t been approved and funded yet. If they do go forward, however, there’s an umbrella contract ready with all the terms worked out. As noted above, the $11.9 billion is really a ceiling amount for a lot of other efforts, which may or may not go forward. The Sept 2010 contract’s initial spending surprisingly modest – the $600,000 minimum order, as the 1st payment for a $2.3 million order of 16 Evolutionary Data Link (EDL) Phase III kits, plus some basic engineering support through the end of February 2012. All of those things will fall under the September 2010 contract instead, and so will some previous ESP efforts. ![]() There are some important things missing from ESP, however, such as spare parts, modernizations or fleet-wide changes outside of CONECT or SWING, etc. In June 2009, the US Air Force issued the latest B-52 Engineering Sustainment Program (ESP) contract for the fleet, with a 10-year, $750 million ceiling. Work under the SWING contract will continue in parallel with the new September 2010 contract. Most of this work is software related, and the most important aspect of SWING was adding the Universal Armament Interface as a sort of weapons Application Programming Interface, in order to make integration of future weapons much easier. Under this contract, Boeing performs work to integrate new ordnance on the B-52 fleet, from MALD unmanned decoys, to Sniper ATP surveillance and targeting pods, to AGM-158 JASSM missiles and beyond. The 12-year, $150 million SWING (Smart Weapons Integration Next Generation) contract came into force in June 2006. The program accomplished its first test flight on Jan 17/10, and plans further tests in 2011.Įxecution of CONECT’s development would remain under the current contract until it’s done, but full production, or any future communications upgrades would apparently fall under the $11.9 billion September 2010 IDIQ. First flight of a refurbished B-52 took place in May 2009. Ultimately, however, CONECT is an interim contract en route to deeper modernizations. Its most significant combat improvement is the ability to receive new missions in flight, and re-target weapons in the middle of a mission. CONECT offers a series of upgrades that tie the B-52s into the USAF’s current communications networks. The CONECT (Combat NEtwork Communications Technology) contract was issued in April 2005, and could be worth up to $500 million.
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