Air Force OKs Contract to Make B-1B Bird-Proof
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WASHINGTON — The Air Force on Tuesday approved modifications proposed by Rockwell International to make the new B-1B bomber more resistant to birds.
The move follows the loss of a B-1B in September after it struck birds during a training flight.
The Air Force announced that it was awarding a “Phase II” contract to Rockwell for “bird strike vulnerability reduction modifications.”
It previously awarded Rockwell $18.9 million to design and test modifications for the B-1B. Tuesday’s contract, worth another $19.6 million, increases areas on the plane to be strengthened from two to three and calls for producing 99 modification kits to cover the entire fleet.
Production of the modification kits is to be completed by April.
Rockwell also is being paid to install the modification kits on 20 of the bombers. Mike Wallace, a spokesman for the Air Force aeronautical systems division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, said the service had yet to decide whether it would install the remaining 79 kits itself or award another contract later.
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