Northrop Grumman [NOC] yesterday said it is offering a mission equipment package that incorporates the newest digital cockpit technology and open architecture design in both fixed- and rotary-wing platforms.
“By incorporating the latest open architecture technology into our mission equipment package, which is highly open and upgradable, we have achieved a system architecture that protects the government’s investment over the long haul for multiple platforms,” said Ike Song, vice president, Situational Awareness Systems, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems. “Our avionics solutions continue to demonstrate superior performance and low life cycle costs compared with less robust architectures.”
The Northrop Grumman digital cockpit solution features an integrated architecture that can be applied to multiple platforms, including AH-64D/E Apache and CH 47D/F Chinook, both produced by Boeing [BA], and the
Sikorsky [UTX] H-60L Black Hawk helicopters, through a single software package.
Northrop Grumman said in a June 25 statement it uses model-based design for operational flight program software that is certifiable under the new DO 178C standards and allows the pilot vehicle interface to be easily replicated on multiple platforms, simplifying aircrew training and the transition among multiple aircraft types.
The Northrop Grumman Mission Equipment Package employs a Federal Aviation Administration/European Aviation Safety Agency certified flight management system that is fully compliant with U.S. and European communications, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management standards.
Additionally, the avionics system is Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE™) compliant, enabling rapid capability insertion while reducing cost and risk for system integration and upgrades.
Northrop Grumman provides full, unlimited government purpose rights to technical data and software, providing the customer with unprecedented flexibility while minimizing vendor lock and obsolescence issues. Vendor lock is also eliminated through the partitioned software architecture for the operational flight program.
At the heart of Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Avionics System that powers cockpits are its dual mission computers, the company statement said. The next-generation FlightPro™ Gen III mission computers feature the newest computing technology in multiple partitioned, 8-core PowerPC™-based processors.
Photo: Bell Helicopter
The FlightPro™ mission computer is a combat-proven, mature solution already installed in the Bell Helicopter [TXT] UH 1Y Venom and AH 1Z Viper platforms under the Marines’ H-1 upgrade program. The Marines plan to incorporate the FlightPro™ Gen III mission computer throughout its future production fleet.
Northrop Grumman’s proposed design solution for the Army’s H-60L Black Hawk digital cockpit upgrade has already been demonstrated in a flight test on a UH-60L helicopter, replicating the UH 60M pilot vehicle interface and providing a common training environment for the Army utility helicopter fleet.