The 419th Flight Test Squadron conducted the first functional check sortie of a B-1B Lancer which ended two years of modifications to the aircraft on Edwards AFB July 30.
The B-1 was upgraded with the Fully Integrated Data Link that allows the aircraft to communicate quickly with others in the entire battlespace, even when not in theater, and allows it to become a more powerful asset to U.S. warfighters.
"The FIDL is basically going to bring the B-1 into the fight," said Maj. Jason Wierzbanowski, 419th Flight Test Squadron B-1 test pilot. "All the data links will give us real time data of where the warfighter needs the bombs on the ground... so we can get there faster and put the bombs closer to the target."
"This aircraft went through a long and extensive modification," said 1st Lt. Chad Miller, 419th FLTS B-1 lead operations engineer. "It was on the ground for more than two years and they really did a lot of work on it."
The entire aft crew station of the aircraft was taken out and replaced with a modern cockpit. Much of the avionics were changed and the displays, which had been installed since the 1980s, are now brand new with more flexible cursor controllers and keyboards. The bomber was also upgraded with new open-architecture processors, mass-storage capability and an Ethernet network.
Both Air Force and Boeing testers at Edwards worked to develop and integrate the hardware and software that make up the FIDL system.
Captain Michael Jungquist, 419th FLTS project flight commander and B-1 weapon systems officer, said, "All the new equipment seems to be working pretty well. We have nice colored displays and they're very easy to read with a lot more capabilities."
The functional check flight assured the new aircraft systems worked properly and that it still flew safely, but there are still more flight tests to be done before the bomber is ready for operational testing.
"The aircraft did very well," said Major Wierzbanowski, who was one of two pilots to do the functional check flight. "The maintenance (team) did an outstanding job after the modification in getting the aircraft back into a flying state, and she ran great."
Major Wierzbanowski extended his appreciation to all who worked hard to complete the modifications and the maintenance team who "definitely worked late hours to make sure we got up and down safely."
A.N. Smythe
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