WSU’s NIAR receives more funding for Air Force B-1 program

Wil Day
·2 min read
10

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The U.S. Air Force has increased their investment in Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research.

In 2020 NIAR began creating a digital model of the B-1 strategic bomber for the Air Force, down to each individual part, from screws to the exterior surface of the plane. Because the bomber was no longer in production, parts for the plane were becoming scarce and repairs difficult.

To date, NIAR has created over 24,000 digital models for the Air Force and developed engineering tools to manage the existing fleet. The program was expanded last year to other aircraft, including the B-52 Stratofortress and the C-130 Hercules aircraft.

“Our partnership with NIAR continues to pay significant dividends to the B-1 enterprise,” says Lieutenant Colonel Adam Parks, Structures and Configuration Branch Chief in the B-1 Program Office in a news release. “It accelerates our ability to respond to urgent needs from our main operating bases at a fraction of the cost. We will continue to invest in partnerships which enable aircraft availability for Air Force Global Strike Command and accelerate our ability to get combat capability to the warfighter.”

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The Air Force will continue to use the B-1 until the new B-21 is fully operational, the aircraft that will replace both the B-1 and B-2 stealth bomber in the Air Force fleet. However, to keep the B-1 flying, nearly half of the fleet will need to have 25 feet of the upper fuselage replaced.

NIAR will use its tools to design the repair and then develop a prototype. The prototype will then be tested on one of the aircraft before it is used to fix the remaining aircraft.

NIAR says over the past 18 months. They expanded the program beyond just the structure of the B-1 to systems and weapons support. They have been able to reverse-engineer parts that are no longer available, many of which were made through old and less precise manufacturing processes like casting and forging molten metals and other materials, and create new parts using modern machining.

The original contract for the B-1 program awarded NIAR $100 million. The Air Force is increasing the award ceiling to $200 million.

“Expanding the support NIAR provides to the B-1 SPO from primarily structures to a wholistic weapons system approach is key to maximizing the benefits of digital engineering,” says John Tomblin, WSU senior vice president for Industry and Defense Programs and NIAR executive director. “Increasing the breadth of support we are providing on B-1 also expands the unique educational opportunities for applied learning we can offer to students at Wichita State.”

For more information about the National Institute for Aviation Research, click here.

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