$28.1M for B-52 Avionics Midlife Improvement Program

B-52: Still going…(click to view full) Lockheed Martin Corp. in Owego, NY received a $28.1 million firm-fixed price contract modification for the B-52 Avionics Midlife Improvement (AMI) Program. That’s a somewhat jaw-dropping term, given that the very last B-52 Stratofortress produced was delivered to the USAF in October 1962 – but the USAF presently intends to upgrade the BUFFs and keep them in service until at least 2030. Work on this contract will be complete by July 2008. The Headquarters Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base, OK issued the contract (FA8107-04-C-0010/P00007). This AFFTC article describes the $260 million AMI program, and also explains some of the looming maintenance and supply problems facing the US B-52 fleet as a result of its age. See also this Military Aerospace Technology article. DID has described the larger problem of aging aircraft in the US military before, and also noted steps being taken to keep the similarly ancient and harder-used P-3 Orion fleet in the air. DID note: The Edwards AF article covering the B-52 AI program is no longer online. Key excerpt reproduced below: bq.. “The AMI program is specifically designed to upgrade the B-52H offensive avionics system and […]