Boeing

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] flew the second C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) aircraft for the first time March 25, logging another milestone in the most comprehensive C-130 avionics modification ever conducted.

The C-130 AMP aircraft, H2.5, successfully completed its maiden flight from Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) in San Antonio, Texas. Boeing test pilot Mike Leone and U.S. Air Force pilot Maj. Adam Faulkner conducted the 1.3-hour flight.

This is the second C-130 to undergo trial installations. Boeing began modifying the aircraft in April 2005, after accepting it from the Kentucky Air National Guard in Louisville. Boeing delivered the first C-130 AMP aircraft, an H2 model, to the U.S. Air Force last November. The first C-130H aircraft to be modified with an advanced avionics suite is ahead of its planned ground and flight test programs, which began at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Nov. 28, 2006.

The U.S. Air Force initiated the modernization program to simplify multiple C-130 configurations in its fleet. Awarded in 2001, the program is more than 60 percent through its design and development phase, which will consolidate four mission design series into one common core avionics suite for the combat delivery type aircraft. The C-130 AMP provides enhanced digital avionics that significantly increases situational awareness for the warfighter. Upgrade commonality brought by the AMP offers additional flexibility in assigning aircrews regardless of the model design type.