This was on the U.S. Air Force AIM Points websited today...
http://aimpoints.hq.af.mil/display.cfm?id=13339
Air Force rolls out upgraded A-10, lets contract for next lot of modification kits
BY: Michael Sirak, Defense Daily
08/22/2006
The Air Force last week rolled out the first production-version of its modified A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft and awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build the next lot of upgrade kits to convert more A-10s to the new configuration.
On August 18, the service displayed the newly upgraded A-10 aircraft, now designated the A-10C, at the Ogden Air Logistics Center on the grounds of Hill Air Force Base (AFB), Utah.
This aircraft is the first of 356 1970s-vintage A-10s that the service intends to modify by 2012 under a Lockheed Martin-led Precision Engagement (PE) initiative.
PE is the largest and most ambitious upgrade in the A-10's history. It involves replacing the aircraft's analog cockpit instruments with digital displays and installing modern computers and flight controls. It also entails upgrading six pylons on the aircraft's wings so that they can deploy satellite-guidance-aided munitions such as Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition or Lockheed Martin's Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser.
The upgraded aircraft will also be able to operate with modern targeting
pods such as Lockheed Martin's Sniper.
"Precision Engagement capability will change the A-10 from a clear weather, visual only attack aircraft into an all-weather, multi-mission precision weapons delivery platform," said Roger Il Grande, Lockheed Martin's A-10 program director in a statement. "Specifically, precision-guided weapons will enable the A-10 pilot to engage ground targets more swiftly, accurately and from safer distances than ever before."
Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego leads an industry team composed of BAE SYSTEMS, Northrop Grumman, and Southwest Research Institute.
The Air Force intends to operate the A-10 for at least another two decades
and service officials say the PE upgrades will serve to keep them viable for that long,
On August 17, Lockheed Martin announced that it received a $48 million from the Air Force to build 107 PE kits under the program's second production lot.
The Air Force let the first PE contract, a $37.8 million award for 72 kits, to the Lockheed Martin-led team in March 2005 (Defense Daily, March 31, 2005).
Hill's 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group began installing the first award production kits in March 2006.
Lockheed Martin is expected to deliver all 356 PE kits to the Air Force by around the end of the decade under contracts with a total estimated value of $168 million, according to the company.
The newly rolled out A-10C is destined for the Maryland Air National Guard, one of two guard units that will be the first Air Force squadrons to fly the upgraded jets.
The Air Force expects to conduct the first flight test of this A-10C in November. Testing will occur at Eglin AFB, Fla., and Nellis AFB, Nev., the service said.
To prepare for the flight testing, the service is conducting instrumentation and ground checks at Hill.
The service also wants to re-wing about 200 A-10s in its fleet that have comparatively thin wings that are susceptible to cracking (Defense Daily, March 16). It is also considering new engines for the Thunderbolt IIs.
"The wing upgrades are expected to begin in 2011," Ogden spokeswoman Merrie Schilter-Lowe told Defense Daily yesterday. <b>"The engines upgrades are on hold for now because of funding issues."</b>
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