Air Force orders more C-130 modernization

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OKLAHOMA CITY, June 3 (UPI) -- Boeing has received a $61 million U.S. Air Force contract for two C-130 Avionics Modernization Program kits and two Aircrew Training System devices.

The orders are part of a low-rate initial production contract that was awarded in 2010.

"We look forward to adding more aircraft to our line over the next two years," said Tommy Jackson, C-130 AMP deputy program manager for the U.S. Air Force. "Our team at Warner Robins Air Force Base is modifying the cockpits of two C-130 aircraft that were inducted in late 2010 and expect to have them completed this year."

Boeing is building two new C-130 AMP Aircrew Training System devices: a Weapon System Trainer and an Avionics Part Task Trainer. The training devices will be developed at supplier CAE USA's Tampa, Fla., facility and delivered to the Arkansas Air National Guard C-130 AMP training center at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., in 2014.

This is the second Air Force contract in three months that approves the purchase of more AMP kits for the C-130 Hercules. The LRIP program in December was increased to 26 aircraft from 20.

Six AMP kits have been approved for purchase and the two at Warner Robins, Ga., are the first to be installed. The third C-130 scheduled for LRIP will be inducted in late 2011 and the fourth in early 2012.

"Low-rate initial production is moving forward as planned," said Mahesh Reddy, C-130 AMP program director for Boeing. "We are on a deliberate path toward full rate production and a safer and more cost-effective solution for the warfighter."