Upgraded B-1 bomber provides enhanced situational awareness
By Loren Blinde
January 22, 2014
Recent enhancements to the U.S. Air Force’s B-1 bomber gives crews “greater situational awareness of what is happening in the battlespace around them,” says Boeing, in a news release it issued on January 22.
The USAF on Jan. 21 received the first B-1 bomber upgraded with the Boeing Integrated Battle Station, which essentially turns the B-1 into a new aircraft with the addition of full color displays, moving maps and a new diagnostics system.
The upgrade, the most extensive modification program in B-1 history also provides faster and more secure communication capabilities that improve crews’ ability to engage enemy targets.
In this photo, the B-1 takes off from Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, where Air Force maintenance technicians installed the upgrade. It was delivered to Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.
