One-third of the US Navy's Boeing E-6A TACAMO (take charge and move out) long-endurance communications relay fleet are likely to be modified and upgraded to incorporate the capabilities of the US Air Force's Strategic Command's Boeing EC-135 Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) aircraft.
The upgraded aircraft will be re-designated E-6B for their new multiple role which will supplement, and eventually take over from, the aging EC-135 fleet.
The prime role of the older ABNCP has been diminishing for years since the advent of the 747-based Boeing E-4A (later upgraded to B), Advanced ABNCPs in the mid-1970s.
The role of the ABNCP is to provide critical communications between the US National Command Authority and strategic forces during and after a nuclear or conventional attack on the USA.
The E-6As are much younger, CFM International CFM56-powered, airframes that originally replaced ageing Lockheed EC-130Q TACAMOs during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The conversion work, to be undertaken by Texas-based Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems (CTAS), will "cross-deck" EC-135 ABNCP equipment to the E-6A as part of the modification to E-6B configuration.
The first E-6B will be delivered by mid-1997. The initial $95 million contract includes aerodynamic and structural analyses, systems engineering, electrical and mechanical design, kit manufacture and installation, airframe and avionics testing.
Source: Flight International