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The
Air Force is assessing whether it can structure the Block 4 upgrade of the
F-35A fighter with open architecture, so it can compete the upgrade among
several contractors, service acquisition chief William LaPlante said Friday.
“It’s not been decided that we will do it or we won’t … but it has been decided
that we’re going to try,” LaPlante told reporters after an AFA-sponsored, Air
Force breakfast in Arlington, Va. He acknowledged that competing combat
aircraft upgrades is “hard because the avionics are integrated with the mission
systems. That’s why you have to build it in at the beginning.” He also said
there has to be a “business case” for creating an open architecture for Block
4, assessing cost versus gain and how long the system will be in service. “It
may come back that it’s too expensive,” he said, but open architecture is the
rule on new systems like the Long-Range Strike Bomber and T-X trainer. In the
long run, it will save money, he said, and make LaPlante’s successors’ jobs
“easier.” LaPlante said his shop is trying to “carve out upgrades to [the B-2
bomber], make it modular, but it’s hard on things that are already integrated.”
He also said the Air Force “got a very, very good deal” on the Combat Rescue
Helicopter contract with Sikorsky for data rights that will make it easier to
compete future sustainment and upgrade of that aircraft.