Aircraft
Boeing Avionics Upgrade for C-130 Faces Uncertain Future
The U.S.

The U.S. Air Force has recommended cancelling the Boeing avionics modernization program (AMP) that was supposed to upgrade more than 200 Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules airlifters. The program has already lost its
only export customer: the Swedish Air Force. A spokesman for the Swedish Armed Forces told AIN that the AMP is too expensive and would entail long delays.

The AMP has endured a troubled history, including the contract award to Boeing that was tainted by the Darleen Druyun/Mike Sears affair, and then a major cost overrun in 2005. The program was restructured to remove 169 earlier C-130s planned for modifications, leaving only the USAF’s 221 C-130H2 and H3 models to be upgraded. Boeing has nearly completed the system design and development phase, at a cost of $1.4 billion.