Originally Posted by
tdracer
Ken
I fear the USAF is going to find out just how expensive it is to retrofit modern FADEC engines onto an analog airplane and discover they would have better off fixing the B-1 structures.
Actually, yes, they have looked at that. Modern FADEC engines are essentially self-contained. They're not dependent on aircraft systems (like air data computer outputs) for their operation. Obviously they need an electronic connection with the cockpit for throttle position, but that's about it. And that can be done on a databus. That same databus can provide the cockpit with engine operating parameters (EPR, N1, N2, TIT, fuel flow, etc). And the Buff has already received a fairly extensive avionics upgrade to make it GATM compliant, plus the fleet is now being upgraded with the Boeing CONECT digital communications upgrade which includes an extensive onboard high-bandwidth, rad-hard and EMP-hard digital databus. The Buff is by no means all analog. CONECT is open architecture, so expansions and upgrades were specifically designed to be (relatively) easy.