Rockwell Collins will provide components to upgrade the avionics in Air Force and NATO E-3 airborne warning and control system aircraft, according to a company release Monday. The components will allow the Air Force’s 33 E-3B/C aircraft and NATO’s 17 E-3As to operate in congested civil airspace. Rockwell will perform this work under contract to Boeing, the AWACS prime contractor. The new equipment, which Boeing will install, includes an integrated avionics system, including cockpit controls and displays, a flight management system, and a suite of communication and navigation equipment. Once the new gear is installed, AWACS pilots “will benefit from having the most advanced avionics to help them accomplish their missions,” said Dave Nieuwsma, Rockwell’s vice president and general manager of mobility and rotary wing solutions.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.