New Boeing navigation components for B-1

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OKLAHOMA CITY, April 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force selected Boeing to replace original navigation hardware on B-1 Lancer bombers with a ring laser gyro system, the company announced.

The contract is for 3 1/2 years and carries a value of $55.3 million.

Under the award, Boeing will provide the navigation modification kits and conduct their integration on aircraft at two locations: Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, and Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, S.D. The process is to begin in January and be completed in the middle of 2015, Boeing said.

"We are no longer using a spinning mass gyro," said Rick Greenwell, B-1 program director for Boeing. "The new inertial navigation system uses a ring laser gyro with no moving parts to wear out and repair. This upgrade will dramatically increase system reliability."

Boeing said development program flight tests with the new ring gyro system were completed last year and that it will start purchasing the hardware immediately for later installation.