B-2 UPGRADES RECOMMENDED $2 BILLION WOULD EXPAND BOMBERS' CAPABILITY.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer PALMDALE - A Washington, D.C., think tank is recommending the Air Force spend $2 billion to upgrade the B-2 stealth bomber to expand its capabilities while the nation develops new long-range weapons. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments argues that investing more money in improving the B-2 - particularly its 1980s-era electronics - would provide the greatest payoff in providing a capability to travel long distances and strike targets with precision. ``Such a program is long overdue and should be initiated as early as possible,'' the report said. ``The program, moreover, should include avionics avionics (ā'vēŏn`ĭks), electronic instruments used in air or space flight; also the design and production of such instruments. Early planes had few instruments, but as aviation and aircraft became more complex, so did instrumentation. modernization modernization Transformation of a society from a rural and agrarian condition to a secular, urban, and industrial one. It is closely linked with industrialization. As societies modernize, the individual becomes increasingly important, gradually replacing the family, aimed at giving the B-2 the global communications and, above all else, the computational capacity to receive, generate and process precision information - imagery as well as data - at whatever rate and density future operations may require.'' The report is in line with a 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. proposal for an upgrading effort they call the ``Global Strike Capability Initiative.'' The proposal, expected to cost $500 million to $700 million over the first seven years, would give B-2s the ability to network with other aircraft and ground forces to identify and attack time-sensitive targets Those targets requiring immediate response because they pose (or will soon pose) a danger to friendly forces or are highly lucrative, fleeting targets of opportunity. Also called TSTs. . The 21 stealth bombers were assembled at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale and rolled out between 1989 and 1997. Modification work continues at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale plant. ``It (the report) opens a healthy, helpful dialogue on what the best capabilities and value for our war fighters is,'' said Harry Heimple, Northrop Grumman's manager of government requirements for its Integrated Systems division. ``The Air Force is deep in thought on what the best way to proceed is.'' The Air Force did not respond to a request for comment on the report. Northrop Grumman officials said Air Force officials have appeared favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. toward the Global Strike Capability Initiative. Congress is also indicating a desire to move forward with upgrading the B-2 bombers, adding an additional $30 million to get the effort started in the 2005 defense budget. A major focus of the upgrades is the bomber's computer architecture, which has technology dating back to the mid-1980s. For example, the microprocessors used throughout the aircraft for such tasks as flight management control, displays and controls are versions of the Intel 286 with 512 kb of RAM. Today's laptops, the report notes, have about 2,000 times more RAM. The processors run at very slow speeds compared witho the 1 gigahertz One billion cycles per second. See GHz. (unit) GigaHertz - (GHz) Billions of cycles per second. The unit of frequency used to measure the clock rate of modern digital logic, including microprocessors. microprocessors used in the joint strike fighter A strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. It differs from an attack aircraft in that the aircraft remains a capable fighter. demonstrator dem·on·stra·tor n. 1. One that demonstrates, such as a participant in a public display of opinion. 2. An article or product used in a demonstration. demonstrator Noun 1. aircraft. ``If the Air Force is going to operate the B-2 into the 2030s, then updating its computer architecture will almost certainly be required before then,'' the report said. One benefit with upgraded computer processors would be the ability to avoid surface-to-air missile systems Noun 1. surface-to-air missile system - the shipboard system that fires missiles at aircraft shipboard system - a system designed to work as a coherent entity on board a naval ship . The B-2 now avoids those threats by flying a preplanned route around the known missile locations. By comparison, the F-35 joint strike fighter will have sensors and computational capacity to sense enemy radar systems, allowing the planes to maintain distance from them. Planes with such capability can operate in enemy airspace without being confined con·fine v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines v.tr. 1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand. See Synonyms at limit. to a preplanned route, the report said. Under the Northrop Grumman initiative, improvements planned for the bomber fleet include equipping the planes to carry more precision-guided bombs and allowing a single aircraft to go after dozens of targets in a single mission. Most of the work under the initiative would be conducted at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale site, which has about 1,100 people working on B-2 modifications. Smaller portions of the work would be done 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. , where one B-2 test aircraft is based, and at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, where software work for the bomber program is done. The initiative would help sustain the existing work force and would not involve a big influx of new hires, company officials said. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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