C-130 AMP Low-Rate Initial Production Continues Successfully

The U.S. Air Force has awarded a contract worth $61 million to Boeing for two more C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) kits and two Aircrew Training System devices as part of a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract that was first granted 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, FL, facility and delivered to the Arkansas Air National Guard C-130 AMP training center at Little Rock Air Force Base, AR, in 2014.

The contract announced Friday is the second Air Force agreement in three months that approves the purchase of more AMP kits for the C-130 Hercules. In December, an Acquisition Decision Memorandum authorized the LRIP program to increase from 20 to 26 aircraft. A total of 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."

FMI: www.af.mil, www.boeing.com