L3Harris to upgrade USAF’s B-52H bomber cockpits
The B-52H is currently in service with the US Air Force Global Strike Command. (Photo: USAF)
The Boeing B-52H is the final model of the Stratofortress heavy bomber. More than 100 were built with 58 remaining in service plus 18 in reserve.
L3Harris has been awarded a US$34 million deal to undertake improvements to the cockpits of USAF B-52H Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft under a contract from the service.
The award is part of Air Force’s Global Strike Command B-52 Quad Crew Program to consolidate the functions of the EW officer and navigator into one position. Combining the two crew positions will include moving the control and display unit panels to the navigator station.
The B-52H is currently operated by a five-person crew that includes two pilots, two navigators and an EW officer and the changes will see this reduced to four.
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The joint effort with the customer-led Crew Station Working Group will include a series of analysis – such as aircraft weight and balance, structural and electrical load analysis and thermal cooling – to identify any impact on the B-52 airframe and inform the modification kit design.
L3Harris is not unfamiliar with the aircraft and in 2021 won a $39.7 million contract to provide repair services to the USAF for the AN/ALQ-172 radar warning receiver.
The B-52 fleet is undergoing a substantial support programme to keep it flying beyond 2040, and possibly even post-2050. Work includes Pratt & Whitney supporting the aircraft’s TF33 engines to the end of the decade under a $870 million deal and Boeing undertaking the Radar Modernization Program.
L3Harris will be exhibiting at Eurosatory 2024 in Paris on 17–21 June.
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