ARINC Engineering Services will perform a major communication systems upgrade on U.S. Navy E-6Bs, under a contract with Rockwell Collins.
The aircraft are part of the Take Charge And Move Out (TACAMO) strategic communications relay mission and the Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) command and control missions. Under the terms of the contract, ARINC, based in Annapolis, Md., will install Rockwell Collins’ Block I avionics modifications on multiple Navy E-6Bs. ARINC will perform comprehensive removal, upgrading and replacement of the receivers, transmitters, communications racks, and operator stations that support the aircraft’s Communications Central and Battle Staff suites. The same Block I modifications will be made on an existing Mission Avionics Systems Trainer currently used at Tinker Air Force Base. The U.S. Navy has a total fleet of 16 E-6B aircraft deployed from Tinker AFB.
ARINC will perform the E-6B Block I work at its Aircraft Modification and Operations Facility in Oklahoma City. Completion is expected to take about 26 months, with induction of the first aircraft scheduled for July 2011 and final delivery by September 2013.