What project 670132 buys
The B-52 Mission Employment Trainer (MET) program is for the development of the B-52 Family of Systems (FoS) Trainers. The FoS Trainers include, but is not limited to, new training devices (aircrew, operations and maintenance) and Systems Integration Lab (SIL) that will augment and eventually replace the existing B-52 legacy training systems and SIL that are antiquated, non-concurrent with the B-52 aircraft, and cost-prohibitive for modernization or sustainment. The current B-52 trainers only account for 17% of training on the Training Task Lists specified in various course syllabi. In conjunction with the AFGSC A3/6 signed Future Training Concept, this new FoS approach will train Air Force personnel utilizing multi-fidelity training devices. These training devices will leverage a common software architecture, include modularity and open mission systems, be rapidly reprogrammable and provide network capability, enable accelerated future upgrades, and support affordable sustainment. This FoS concept fulfills the future training needs of the formal training unit (FTU), combat units, and weapons school students spanning the continuum of learning. These new devices/trainers are of paramount importance because of their critical role to future B-52 combat capabilities that must advance through 2050. FY27 funds will be used to develop B-52 training devices that will provide an interactive and immersive environment to provide proficiency-based and initial qualification training for full-crew mission training and coordination, and related programmatic support. The MET FoS will develop a virtualized version of the aircraft's Operational Flight Programs (OFP) and will execute on commercial-grade, off-the-shelf computational hardware. The virtualized OFP software will be developed to run on multiple training devices of varying physical fidelity to ensure a common source baseline and reduce reliance on aircraft hardware and costly sustainment. The MET Cockpit Procedures Training (CPT) devices will be rapidly reconfigurable to different aircraft configurations, and some will be transportable. From initial development, the open architecture lays the groundwork for a roadmap to aircraft concurrency, upgradability, and can be added in a cost-effective manner, keeping pace with the speed of technology and future B-52 aircraft upgrades.
- Product Development
Project 670132 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 6.2 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 46.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 0.5 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 98.1 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 66.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 30.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 19.7 |
1 accomplishment / planned program
The R-2A exhibit — the only level of the budget that describes work that has not happened yet. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only, no five-year plan. Coverage is partial across the corpus, so count activities, never total them.
FY2027 planned work The Mission Employment Trainer program will continue development of the WST, CPT and virtualization of the OFPs and leverage forward compatible software to develop the MET FoS. Aircraft test points will be conducted as well as investment in flight dynamic computational models to support Level D equivalency. Real-time analysis of Contractors will occur ensuring performance and delivery.
FY2026 to FY2027 change Decrease from FY2026 to FY2027 due to a reduction of Discretionary efforts. FY27 MET efforts will be addressed with mandatory funding.
FY2026 plans — current year The Mission Employment Trainer program will begin development of the Weapons Systems Trainer (WST), Cockpit Procedures Trainer (CPT), Flight Dynamics Modeling and virtualization of the OFPs and leverage forward compatible software to develop the MET FoS. Investment in Joint Simulation compatible hardware and Simulatorys Common Architecture and Requirements (SCARS) On-premises equipment will ensure compatibility of investment. Begin instrumentation of aircraft to obtain flight systems data to support Level D equivalency.