L3 Technologies has announced that it has been awarded a $499 million US Air Force C-130H Avionics Modernization Program Increment 2 (AMP INC 2).
Under the contract, L3 will design, produce and certify a state-of-the-art modernisation solution for a fleet of 176 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130H aircraft to improve aircraft availability, reliability and sustainability while significantly reducing life-cycle costs say the firm.
“L3 is committed to delivering innovative, cost-effective solutions to ensure mission readiness in support of the U.S. Air Force’s modernization strategy,” said Christopher E. Kubasik, L3’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President.
“We are focused on providing an agile and low-risk approach to modernizing the Air Force’s diverse fleet of C-130s, enabling these assets to operate well into the future.”
The firm say that modernisation solutions will include integration of a commercial off-the-shelf avionics suite, as well as L3’s training integration and services.
Development, initial- and full-rate production will take place at L3’s facility in Waco, Texas, on multiple C-130H variants, including the C-130H1, C-130H2, C-130H2.5, C-130H3 and LC-130H.
I read Lockheed offered to convert and modernise 10 of the RAF’s surplus C5’s to a Maritime/Anti Sub spec. For a couple of 100 million that would be a major and rapid increase in the UK’s anti-sub ability to deal with the increase tempo of Russian activity in the Atlantic. The cost would be less than a single Poseidon.
It would have been an interesting project, I seem to recall they suggested using the systems stripped from the scrapped MR4’s