A B-1 Lancer strategic bomber during a training mission at Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base last year. (U.S. Air National Guard, John Hughel)
Collins Aerospace, formerly Rockwell Collins, will update B-1 Lancer training systems for Aero Simulation Inc. (ASI), which last month received a contract for B-1 training system sustainment from the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Maintenance Command.
There are 35 Lancer flight and maintenance training devices at a number of different Air Force Bases for which ASI is responsible. ASI selected Collins to execute concurrency, obsolescence and cybersecurity upgrades to weapons systems, missions, cockpit procedures and maintenance trainers, with the goal of aligning training systems with current B-1 aircraft configurations.
This contract allows Collins to examine each trainer to pinpoint needed upgrades, which the company can then propose for additional, follow-on contracts, according to a company spokesperson. The process will entail identifying where the trainers need to be upgraded to conform to current Lancer aircraft and where trainer upgrades can future-proof them for compatibility with planned Lancer upgrades.
No timeline has been made available yet regarding when follow-on contracts to upgrade the trainers are expected to be granted or when that work will commence.