Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Wichita marked the start of the flight-test of a B-52 modified with Combat Network Communications Technology (CONECT) with a celebration Friday at the company.

The aircraft made its first flight, Thursday, May 21.

The B-52H Stratofortress long-range bomber, has been modified with modern situational awareness and mission flexibility, the company said.

Boeing Wichita employees, US Air Force representatives and state and local officials were on hand for the celebration at the company in Southeast Wichita.

“The CONECT modification gives our war fighters equal footing in a network-centric battlefield,” Scot Oathout, Boeing’s director of B-52 programs said in a statement.

The B-52 was designed to carry nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The Wichita-modified was first delivered from Boeing Wichita in 1960.

The Air Force awarded Boeing the contract in April 2005 for the system design and development of the CONECT program.

B-52’s are stationed at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

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