The primary objectives of these first several sorties is to verify that the aircraft depot work was properly complied with and to get a look at some of the RAMP features. With RAMP, pilots will be able to utilize upgraded and enhanced navigation technology in the form of new radios and upgraded GPS and control them directly from an Up Front Control that allows the pilot to be heads up more often while flying, said Maj. In the current cockpit, all the radios, navigation aids and Inertial Navigation System are located deep inside the cockpit. In some instances, the controls are located behind the pilots seat requiring him to contort to reach these instruments. The knobs can be extremely hard to feel, let alone see, while wearing a full pressure suit, McGovern said.
RAMP puts all the controls for all components on a single front mounted keypad and screen.
This makes them easily accessible and easier to control, McGovern said. The new glass cockpit also allows inclusion of technology common in most jets but notably absent in the U-2, McGovern said. McGovern said this would make the overall pilot s job easier than it currently is by making the information readily available and easy to manipulate. The driving force behind the RAMP , said Brent Thompson, a field service representative with LM here, is that some of the instruments in the cockpit are becoming obsolete and we are running into what is called the vanishing vendor situation. RAMP does several things to solve the vanishing vendor issue in the U-2 as well as provide for a single, consolidated effort, to modernize the 1960 vintage cockpit and allow the aircraft to perform competitively well into the 21 st century, McGovern said.