TECHNOLOGY : Successful F-111F Test Flight Called Milestone for Rockwell International

Rockwell International’s defense unit in Anaheim said its avionics upgrade program reached a milestone when the F-111F Pacer Strike aircraft completed its first successful flight test last week.

The Pacer Strike’s avionics system is an Air Force project that has generated $107 million in contracts for Rockwell’s Autonetics Marine and Aircraft Systems Division in Anaheim since 1989.

Under the program, 84 of the 1960s-era F-111F bomber aircraft will be upgraded with new navigational and cockpit display systems. The flight-test phase of the program will involve 12 flight tests during the summer.

Production is scheduled to begin this fall and continue through 1998.