Third West Virginia Air National Guard C-130 arrives for Avionics Modernization
The Boeing Company yesterday inducted the third U.S. Air Force C-130 into the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) at company facilities in San Antonio, Texas, where it will receive a fully integrated, night vision goggle-compatible digital glass cockpit and a new digital avionics system.
The aircraft, assigned to the West Virginia Air National Guard’s (ANG) 130th Airlift Wing, is the third of more than 200 C-130 aircraft that Boeing Support Systems will modify under the AMP initiative.
The first two C-130 AMP aircraft, H2 and H2.5, are currently at the U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where they continue to undergo ground and flight testing. Testing on those aircraft is currently more than 10 percent ahead of schedule.
The second aircraft flew Sept. 25 at the test center following the installation of Core Complete 1 software. The software upgrade provides a fully functional Flight Management System aboard the AMP aircraft, eliminating the need for the navigator position in the cockpit.
Before delivering the aircraft to Boeing, the West Virginia ANG crew spent a few days at Boeing’s Long Beach, Calif., site to better understand what AMP will bring to the platform.
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