Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract to demonstrate a faster, simpler way for replacement of obsolete parts for the US Air Force’s (USAF) B-2 Spirit stealth bomber aircraft.
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Under the terms of the $43.5m contract, the company will map out a smart, cost-effective way for replacement of mission-essential parts that cannot be repaired or easily replaced, to help address a growing threat to the bomber’s readiness.
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Specifically, the company will produce a functional replacement for a B-2 avionics line replaceable unit (LRU), called the audio central distribution unit (ACDU).
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Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems vice-president and B-2 programme manager Dave Mazur said the company has developed a concept called the common processor to create same-size, functional replacements for many of the B-2’s most critical avionics units in a fraction of the time and cost required for custom replacements for those units.
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Mazur said, "One of the most powerful features of the common processor is that it will allow B-2 maintainers to use one common set of test equipment for all of the replacement LRUs.
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"This approach will reduce avionics sustainment costs and help improve aircraft availability."
Achieved by taking advantage of functional similarities among current avionics LRUs on the B-2, the common processor concept is expected to be used for replacement of the bomber’s 21 different current LRUs identified by both the company and USAF.
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An increasing number of B-2 LRUs face or will soon face obsolescence, according to Mazur.
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Manufactured by Northrop, the B-2 Spirit is a low-observable, strategic, long-range heavy bomber designed to penetrate complex air-defence shields and deploy conventional and nuclear weapons.
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Work under the contract is scheduled to be carried out over the next 43 months.
Image: A USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flies over Kansas, US. Photo:courtesy of USAF Senior Airman Courtney Witt/Released.
