Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:27 pm
Whatever happened to Gravity Well?????
another ping pong game anyone?
Trickfox
another ping pong game anyone?
Trickfox
A Place to Discuss the Life and Science of T. Townsend Brown
https://www.ttbrown.com/forum/
I'm here! Lurking and learningTrickfox wrote:Whatever happened to Gravity Well?????
another ping pong game anyone?
Trickfox
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... stone.htmlB-2 computer upgrade passes first milestone
By Stephen Trimble
Northrop Grumman has passed the first milestone in the development of a modern computer architecture to upgrade the B-2A stealth bomber's flight management system.
Following the US Air Force's approval of a preliminary design review in early June, Northrop has been cleared to finalise the design by October and to deliver the computer upgrade for flight tests in the fourth quarter of 2009, says Ron Naylor, its B-2 programme manager. The company is upgrading the B-2's 256Kb-class processor chip with a Pentium-class Lockheed Martin integrated processing unit, with the improved FMS to feature 1Gb/s computational speed.
Once installed, the replacement processor and a new disc drive with fibre channel interfaces will enable a series of future and ongoing upgrades for the bomber's weapon and sensor systems. Northrop is upgrading its radar antenna, for example, to an active electronically scanned array. The radar processor, however, is being left alone until the FMS can handle the data throughput required to process synthetic aperture radar maps.
The USAF is also adding the Boeing GBU-39 small diameter bomb on the B-2. Without the processor upgrade, making any targeting changes for the full load-out of 80 small diameter bombs would take much longer.
The most direct upgrade supported by the new processor will be an improved communications suite. Addition of the integrated processing unit is the first increment of a larger modernisation effort called the B-2 extremely high frequency and computer upgrades programme. A second increment will replace the aircraft's Milstar ultra-high-frequency system to the EHF standard provided by the future satellite constellation of the Boeing family of advanced beyond line-of-sight terminals, making the B-2 a new "node" in the global information grid.
The upgrade requires changing the shape of the B-2's outer-mould line on the top of the aft fuselage. In a review of the programme released in March, the US Government Accountability Office reported concerns that the design changes could inadvertently alter the stealth bomber's radar cross section.
"We've had experts from across the company and the air force look at that and they say there aren't impacts to the low observability specifications from the antenna," counters Naylor. While the GAO is also concerned over the "high-risk" nature of the new disk drive, he says the design has faced problems normally associated with any computer development programme, but remains on track.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/11 ... _upgrades/Upgrade drags Stealth Bomber IT systems into the 90s
We're looking for a Mr Gorb... Gorbachev
By Lewis Page → More by this author
Published Friday 11th July 2008 11:08 GMT
Nail down your security priorities. Ask the experts and your peers at The Register Security Debate, September 24 2008.
US aerospace heavyweight Northrop Grumman has revealed some details of a planned upgrade to the computing system of the famous B-2 Stealth Bomber, one of the most expensive and unusual aircraft in the world. According to reports, the well-known but seldom seen ghost bomber will be finally moving up to Pentium processors and code written in C. The B-2 will also get a new disk drive.
Stealth Bomber - now with Pentium sticker.
Northrop says that during the upgrade, many standalone computers distributed throughout the B-2's batwinged airframe will be combined into a single faster and more modern Integrated Processing Unit (IPU) with fibre links to the various hardware it needs to interface with.
Flight International reports that the IPU will use "Pentium class" processor chips. According to Northrop: "It provides the high-speed data handling environment required to implement future capabilities such as an EHF satellite communications system, and the ability to destroy moving targets."
The new disk drive - a piece of kit seen by US government auditors as "high risk", but in which the air force and Northrop have full confidence - will come from Honeywell. The B-2's flight-management computer, without which its unstable low-observable flying wing airframe cannot fly, will be replaced by a more modern single-card processor "installed in one of many computer slots" in the new IPU.
Naturally the stealth bomber's software has to be rewritten for the new platform, in particular the operational flight program (OFP) - the app which lets the ungainly plane fly, rather than lurching out of control as it would without constant computer assistance. (A recent B-2 crash shortly after takeoff at the Pacific island of Guam was caused by a false sensor data feed into the OFP, resulting from an airspeed measuring device being affected by tropical moisture. The duff data fooled the OFP app into wrecking the $2bn bomber - while the pilots were unable to do anything to stop it.)
It seems that the current OFP was written in a now-obsolete programming language called JOVIAL. Northrop are proud to announce that they have figured out how to translate the code into a "newer, more modern programming language called C".
While it might seem odd to some readers that the US Air Force's multibillion dollar flagship plane is only now "upgrading" to fairly basic tech, this is commonplace in advanced aerospace and military kit. The space shuttle's flight computers, similarly critical to it remaining under control, are likewise basic. In the early years of the 21st century, the main battle computer of a Royal Navy destroyer was still based around two 24-bit, 1 MHz processors each with 25KB of RAM.
Getting back to the B-2, Northrop and the US air force expect to start flight testing the new computer upgrades late next year. There are also a raft of other hardware updates - more bomb racks, massive bunker-penerating superbombs, better comms, better radar etc - planned for coming years. ®
Just wondering about this user comment:Gravity well wrote:First ever! Pictures of a B-2 crash.
Take a look: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... 73248.html
Video: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/v ... lth-b.html
Anyone see anything interesting? Resolution is pretty low but better than nothing.
Urban legend, or hint to electrostatics?27. RE: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos: Exclusive First Look
I remember reading somewhere several years ago that the B2 had a near-fatal flaw that the Air Force was covering up: the planes wouldn't function correctly if they were allowed to get wet. They had to be kept in hangars at all times, and couldn't be flown in bad weather. It appears that the story was true, and somebody screwed up by allowing this one to get wet. That's right, they spend a billion dollars apiece on planes that won't work if they get wet. And they keep it a secret from us.
So THAT's what they're calling it now.Rose wrote: The caption there attributes the glow to airframe electrification.
rose
Raymond,Trickfox wrote:Sorry
I'l be out of commission for the next few days. I will be in the hospital.
I will be back as soon as I can to answer some of these questions.
I am weak a bit now but I'll be ok next week,.
Raymond
Sorry Rose, here is what the photographer says about his picture:Rose wrote:Gravity well, the picture resembles the one on page 2 of this link:
http://www.etheric.com/Downloads/Columbia.pdf
The caption there attributes the glow to airframe electrification.
rose