Lockheed Martin [LMT] said on Sept. 26 that its Skunk Works division in Palmdale, Calif., and the U.S. Air Force have conducted first flight of avionics upgrades for the U-2 reconnaissance plane under a $50 million Avionics Technical Refresh (ATR) contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in 2020.
“During this mission the aircraft successfully performed a low-altitude functional check flight to integrate new avionics, cabling and software,” Lockheed Martin said on Sept. 26.
The company said that the ATR flight tested updated, modular communications, navigation and displays for the U-2’s avionics suite and a new open mission systems (OMS) computer.
The Air Force expected to fund the U-2 research and development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) account at $20 million in fiscal 2024 but reduced that to about $17 million in the budget request.
The request said that U-2 RDT&E funding for the U-2 “has been decreased to only fund Avionics Technical Refresh Phase 1 efforts for the U-2.”
“Expectations are for protective NDAA language to be waived during FY 2023 allowing the USAF to move forward with U-2 divestment in FY 2026,” according to the request. “In anticipation of this, U-2 RDT&E is funded at a level sufficient to ensure fleet viability through the end of FY 2025.”
The four congressional defense bills thus far fully fund the nearly $17 million for U-2 RDT&E in fiscal 2024.
Space and next generation manned ISR aircraft and drones may be options to fill in for any gap caused by the coming retirement of the Air Force’s 31 U-2s. In the minds of some in Congress, hypersonic planes could one day perform ISR missions.
The report of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on its version of the fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill said that HASC “notes the potential applications of reusable hypersonic multi-mission aircraft to critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and strike missions, particularly in exclusion areas in the Indo-Pacific theater of operations.”
“Peer adversaries continue to advance in hypersonic technology, including reusable systems, that pose a threat to U.S. national security interests,” the report said. “However, the committee is concerned by the lack of research and development funding directed towards fielding a reusable hypersonic platform with aircraft-like operations and qualities. Therefore, the committee directs the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering to submit a report to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 31, 2023, on the status of budgeting for future development of reusable hypersonic multi-mission aircraft, as well as requirements for development and key technology activities determined necessary.”
The Air Force said that its fiscal 2024 plans for the U-2 include ATR Phase 1 flight test and installation, “which will partially resolve avionics DMSMS [diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages] and safety of flight issues and establishes the Open Mission Systems (OMS) backbone needed to employ IP-based OMS sensors such as ASARS-2C and SYERS-2C OMS.”
RTX [RTX] is the contractor for the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS), and RTX subsidiary, Collins Aerospace, builds the Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System (SYERS) multispectral imaging sensor.
The Air Force said that it plans to finish flight test in fiscal 2024 for the ASARS-2B/C, a high altitude “deep-look” synthetic aperture radar system.
In addition, the U-2 is to continue to serve as a “platform surrogate” to reduce risk on Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s second operational imperative, an “operationally focused Advanced Battle Management System.”
Last month, Air Force Col. William Collins, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) high altitude ISR senior materiel leader for U-2 and Global Hawk, suggested that the
U-2’s ATR program is to allow OMS sensors to be used on 5th generation platforms, such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35, and sixth generation aircraft (Defense Daily, Aug. 9).
The Air Force is “also looking at demo’ing some SIGINT capability [on the U-2] that could also be used on future platforms,” Collins said.
AFLCMC and Air Combat Command are focusing on “how do we ensure that we don’t create a scenario in which we’re not able to meet mission need because of things like [U-2 parts’] obsolescence,” he said.
Last September, DoD announced a $183 million award to RTX for the ASARS-2B radar, which is to double the range of the ASARS-2A carried on the nose of some U-2s.
Another upgrade effort has been the Global High-altitude Open-system Sensor Technology (GHOST) SIGINT system.
In October 2021, the Air Force awarded a BAE Systems/Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) team a contract for GHOST to replace the Northrop Grumman [NOC] Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload (ASIP) on the U-2 (Defense Daily, Oct. 19, 2021). Earlier that month, the Air Force said it had also awarded Northrop Grumman a contract for GHOST.