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What about "the AMP" for the old USAF Hercules?


Fred
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The 189th will be the schoolhouse for AMPed 130s. St. Joe's 86's are at Little Rock, assigned to the 189th. They're being done first, followed by the 90's St. Joe got from Mansfield. After that, I forget the pecking order. I think I got that right. I think the process is expected to take about five years or so.

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The 189th will be the schoolhouse for AMPed 130s. St. Joe's 86's are at Little Rock, assigned to the 189th. They're being done first, followed by the 90's St. Joe got from Mansfield. After that, I forget the pecking order. I think I got that right. I think the process is expected to take about five years or so.

Hmmm; so how many are operational now? Where will the work be done? What wll be the production rate? Anybody know the real deal?

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  • 2 weeks later...

What I heard trough the grapevine is all H-2's and above will get AMP'd and get the NP2000, and all H's will get the Electronic Valve Housing. This info comes from a pretty solid source, but with the history of these programs, it doesn't matter where the info comes from, it will probably change 30 times before anything happens.

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That'd be nice if they go ahead & purchase the NP2000, but someone I talked to from AMC requirements said that AMC can't afford it, so who knows? Bob, I've heard talk that they're trying to POM money to get the H1s AMP'd, but that's been at least a year ago.

The three "prototypes" are (in order) 89-9101 from Maxwell, 91-1239 from Louisville, and 94-6704 from Charlie West. They're no longer considered prototypes, as they're all in production specification now...and all in PDM I've heard.

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From AFA's Daily Report:

Let the Modifications Begin: Boeing announced Monday that the first C-130H aircraft slated to receive new avionics at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga., has been inducted there for the modifications. This is the first of 20 C-130s that will receive new cockpit displays and communications and navigation gear during the low-rate initial production phase of the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program. Boeing developed the AMP upgrade kits for the Air Force. "Our team has been trained by Boeing, and we are excited to get the first of many aircraft through our line and upgraded," said Tommy Jackson, USAF's C-130 AMP deputy program manager. Air Force workers at Warner Robins will install the new avionics in 10 of the 20 C-130s. Boeing will do another five, starting in early 2012. A competitively selected third party will upgrade the remaining aircraft. Overall, the Air Force intends to upgrade 221 C-130Hs under AMP.

And Boeing:

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 30, 2010 – The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced the induction of the first C-130 aircraft slated to receive the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) upgrade at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga. This is the first of 20 aircraft to be upgraded during low-rate initial production (LRIP).

“Warner Robins is ready to receive the C-130 and begin installing the AMP kits,†said Tommy Jackson, C-130 AMP deputy program manager for the U.S. Air Force. “Our team has been trained by Boeing, and we are excited to get the first of many aircraft through our line and upgraded.â€

Air Force workers at Robins will install glass cockpits that include a head-up display; six flat-panel, full-color displays; and night-vision capability in 10 of the 20 LRIP aircraft. Warner Robins will receive its second C-130 for AMP modification in October.

“The C-130 AMP is production-ready,†said Mahesh Reddy, C-130 AMP program manager for Boeing. “Today marks a very important day for the warfighter. Boeing and the Air Force are one step closer to delivering a fleet of C-130 AMP aircraft.â€

Boeing will begin its portion of the installations in early 2012 at its San Antonio facility.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.

Anybody know which tail it is?

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  • 9 months later...

Five C-130 Avionics Modernization Program aircraft will fly in IOT&E program

PALMDALE, Calif., June 21, 2011 -- The Boeing C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) is making final preparations for five aircraft to enter the U.S. Air Force Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) program in early 2012.

"Once evaluation is complete in late 2012, we will have a fully-tested and proven weapon system that will offer more situational awareness for aircrews, increasing flight safety during their many mission types," said Mahesh Reddy, C-130 AMP program director for Boeing.

Three AMP aircraft have been in scheduled programmed depot maintenance at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga., over the past year. Two of these aircraft received final software and hardware upgrades at Boeing's Flight Test Operations facility in Palmdale, bringing them up to production configuration. The first of these was delivered to Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., on April 23, and the second was delivered on May 16. The third aircraft is receiving final upgrades at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. It will be delivered to Little Rock in July.

The first two low-rate initial production C-130 AMP aircraft were inducted at Warner Robins in August 2010. These aircraft will be completed in late 2011 and early 2012 and then will join the three other aircraft in the IOT&E program at Little Rock Air Force Base.

"The Little Rock 'schoolhouse' for C-130 AMP is now training flight crews," said Lt. Col. Kevin Tebbutt, Chief of Operations and Training, 189th Operations Group. "Our crewmembers are currently in the academic and simulator phase of training. The initial cadre of AMP instructors is flying the AMP aircraft we have on the ramp to prepare for the students that will start their flight line training in June."

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C-130 Upgrade Program Prepares for Operational Testing: Boeing announced that the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program is preparing for five aircraft to enter initial operational test and evaluation early next year. "Once evaluation is complete in late 2012, we will have a fully tested and proven weapon system," said Mahesh Reddy, Boeing's C-130 AMP program director. The Air Force intends to install new digital cockpits in 221 C-130H2, -H2.5, and –H3 aircraft under AMP. The three C-130s that Boeing modified for developmental testing have since gone through scheduled programmed depot maintenance to bring them up to the AMP production configuration. All three of them are expected to be at Little Rock AFB, Ark., this month. The first two C-130s receiving the new avionics during the program's production phase are expected to arrive at Little Rock by early 2012, joining the three other airplanes for IOT&E.

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Last I heard, there are three prototypes. One from Charlie West (previously Martinsburg airplane), Maxwell and I think the last one came from St. Joe (an '86).

There's more up to date info than the briefing we received a while back.

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/C-130-AMP-Program-Receives-Contract-Heads-Into-Uncertainty-06046/

AMP 1 (first one modified) is 89-9101 from Maxwell (Mansfield); AMP 2 is 91-1239 from Louisville; AMP 3 is 94-6704 from Charlie West (Martinsburg). The first three LRIP birds are 91-1651, 86-1395 & 91-1652.

Fred: None are "operational" yet, they've yet to start OT&E. 26 airplanes are included in the LRIP (low rate initial production). Not sure of the timeline.

Railrunner: The first three birds are in production configuration, not considered prototypes anymore. AMP 1 & 2 are flying training lines right now at the ROCK, with AMP 3 joining them late this month.

I see now that what fltsload said pretty much sums it up.

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This is shaping up to be a pretty good thread; there have been a few other AMP threads but hopefully we can keep this one on actual information. Thanks for sharing the serials; the serial of the first LRIP bird has been elusive, and the third is new to me.

I do wonder what the USN is going to do about their Herks. Is there an AMP program in the works, or are they buying new planes? The USMC has already switched completely to KC-130Js on the 3 active VMGR sqns, and is planning to replace KC-130Ts at the reserve sqns over the next 10-15 years.

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  • 1 month later...

At 14 mil a pop AMP is double what Boeing said it would cost (7 Mil) Most H-Model modernizations cost anywhere from 3-8 million based on the complexity. The US (and other gov) are not dumb, they know what other cockpits cost and that 14 mil is kind of a rip off. (Which is why you don't see alot of people lining up to get this mod)

Nat. Guard programs especially do not like the risk/cost of going to AMP.

On top of all that, the J-Model is not fully CNS-ATM compliant, late, and completely owned by Lockheed. (So upgrades come in blocks and 100 mil price tags) Right now the users of the H-models are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place as "other" options would involve deviating from the congress spending on AMP and J.

Oh what fun politics are :-D

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