U.S. Air Force selects Boeing to upgrade B-1 navigation system

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, 11 April 2012. Boeing [NYSE: BA] has received a $55.3 million production contract from the U.S. Air Force to upgrade the B-1 Lancer navigation system. The upgrade will replace the original navigation hardware with a new ring laser gyro system.

Under the three-and-a-half year contract, Boeing will deliver hardware modification kits and perform retrofits at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, and Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, S.D. Initial aircraft modification is scheduled to begin in January 2013 and be completed by mid-2015.

Development program flight tests were completed on July 13, 2011. Boeing will begin purchasing upgrade kits immediately.