A software upgrade by Northrop Grumman for managing weapons aboard B-2 stealth bombers has successfully undergone a U.S. Air Force preliminary design review.

"We're simplifying the software used by the B-2 to manage its weapons," said Dave Mazur, Northrop Grumman vice president and B-2 program manager, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "Today we have several stand-alone programs that each manage a specific type of mission. We're replacing that software with a single program that can manage all of those mission types."

The upgraded software is part of the Air Force's Flexible Strike Phase 1 program, a project to help enhance the bomber's mission capabilities and reduce maintenance costs. Flexible Strike is the first B-2 modernization to use communications infrastructure Northrop Grumman created for the first increment of the B-2 EHF satellite communications program, including faster processors, a fiber optic network and increased onboard data storage.

Northrop, a prime contractor for the bomber, said the preliminary design review was conducted earlier this year at its facility in Oklahoma City.