B-2 BOMBER GETS UPGRADED RADAR MODERNIZING TO BE DONE OVER NEXT 5 YEARAS.Byline: JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape SKEEN Staff Writer PALMDALE -- Flight test work has started at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. on an improved radar antenna for the B-2 stealth bomber, part of a package of upgrades that is keeping about 1,000 workers employed in Palmdale even though bomber production ended years ago. Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor for the U.S. , working with major subcontractor Raytheon, is flight testing the Active Electronically Scanned Array An Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), also known as active phased array radar is a type of radar whose transmitter and receiver functions are composed of numerous small transmit/receive (T/R) modules. (AESA AESA Active Electronically Scanned Array AESA ATM End System Address AESA Agence Européenne de la Sécurité Aérienne (French: European Aviation Safety Agency) AESA Association of Educational Service Agencies ) which will be installed on the fleet over the next five years. The antenna work is headquartered in Palmdale and the flight test work is being done with one B-2 at Edwards. ``The radar modernization program is one improvement the Air Force and Northrop Grumman are working on to enhance the B-2's capabilities,'' said Dave Mazur, vice president of long-range strike and B-2 program manager for Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector. The radar antenna is expected to avoid potential interference with commercial signals and improve radar performance. The upgraded radar will avoid conflicts with the Ku Band frequency spectrum, which the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. opened up to commercial transmissions. The B-2 radar work is part of a $382 million system development and demonstration contract awarded by the Air Force in 2004. During the phase covered by the contract, Northrop Grumman will develop and test the antenna and integrate six new radar systems on B-2 aircraft for initial demonstration and operational training. The subsequent production and deployment phase will include low-rate initial production and full-rate production to field the upgraded radar. Installation of the new antennas on all of the B-2 aircraft is expect to run through 2011. In addition to replacing the antennas, Northrop Grumman will modify the B-2 defensive management system and the radar transponder A receiver/transmitter on a communications satellite. It receives a microwave signal from earth (uplink), amplifies it and retransmits it back to earth at a different frequency (downlink). A satellite has several transponders. to support the change in operating frequency. ``Raytheon's B-2 AESA radar system is performing well so far during the flight test phase,'' said Erv Grau, vice president for the Air Combat Avionics Group of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) is a major business segment of Raytheon. Headquartered in El Segundo, California, SAS has a total employment of 12,000 and 2006 sales of US$ 4.3 billion. Jon Jones is the segment's President. . ``Integrating our advanced technology onto the platform is critical to ensure the B-2 is not only equipped to deal effectively with a variety of future threats but also has the capability to act as a critical node An element, position, or command and control entity whose disruption or destruction immediately degrades the ability of a force to command, control, or effectively conduct combat operations. Also called target critical damage point. on the network as the battle space continues to evolve.'' Other upgrades to the bomber fleet include a ``smart bomb rack assembly'' that allows the B-2 to deliver 80 independent, 500-pound guided bombs, five times more than it could deliver previously; the application of a special surface coating to improve maintainability of the aircraft; installation of a new communications link that will improve B-2 pilots' ability to share critical targeting and threat information; and increasing the capacity of the airplane's onboard computer processors. james.skeen(at)dailynews.com (661) 267-5743 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) A B-2 stealth bomber practices taking off and landing at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale in this October 2001 photo. |
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