Posted by John McHale
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., 20 March 2010. A new integrated processing unit (IPU) that replaces as many as a dozen current stand-alone avionics computers on the B-2 stealth bomber is part of a hardware upgrade that will eventually allow the jet to send and receive battlefield information as much as 100 times faster than its current satellite communications system.
Engineers at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY., developed the IPU.
The work is being done as part of Increment 1 of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 extremely high frequency (EHF) satellite communications program.
Other EHF Increment 1 hardware includes:
- a new disk drive unit developed by Honeywell Defense and Space Electronic Systems in Plymouth, Minn., that will enable transfer of EHF data onto and off of the B-2; and
- a network of fiber optic cable that will support the high speed data transfers within the aircraft.
"EHF Increment 1 puts in place the high speed data handling infrastructure that the B-2 will need to perform its most advanced communications and weapons delivery missions in the future," says Col. Kevin Harms, U.S. Air Force, Commander, 702nd Aeronautical Systems Group. "The beginning of hardware installation means that we are making solid progress getting this new capability out of the lab and into the hands of the warfighter."
"The installation of EHF Increment 1 hardware also means that we're nearly done with a significant task of software development, integration and testing for the program," adds Dave Mazur, Northrop Grumman's vice president of long range strike and B-2 program manager.
According to Mazur, the new software was developed, integrated, and tested by Northrop Grumman employees working at the Air Force's Weapon Systems Support Center, Tinker AFB, Okla. Ground testing of the EHF Increment 1 hardware is planned early in 2010.
The three-increment EHF Satcom program is part of an on-going effort by the Air Force and Northrop Grumman to modernize the B-2 to keep it fully mission capable against evolving enemy threats.
Increment 2 involves installation of a new communications terminal and new antennas that will allow the B-2 to transmit and receive information securely via satellite. Increment 3 will integrate the B-2 into the U.S. Department of Defense's Global Information Grid, a worldwide network of information systems, processes and personnel involved in collecting, storing, managing, and disseminating information on demand to warfighters, policy makers and military support personnel.
Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor for the B-2 Spirit, one of the world's most survivable aircraft systems. The B-2 is the only combat-proven stealth platform in the current U.S. inventory. It can fly more than 6,000 nautical miles unrefueled and more than 10,000 nautical miles with just one aerial refueling, giving it the ability to reach any point on the globe within hours.
The 20-aircraft fleet of B-2s is operated by the 509th Bomb Wing from its headquarters at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.
