avionics 2011 07

July 2011

www.avionicstoday.com

Equipment for Police Helicopters

Certifying Aircraft for ADS-B

Product Focus: Data Acquisition

RAFALEIN COMBAT

inside

magazine

www.avionicstoday.com July 2011 Avionics Magazine 3

The editors welcome articles, engineering and technical reports, new product information, and other industry news. All editorial inquiries should be directed to Avionics Magazine, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850–4024; 301-354-1820; fax: 301-340-8741. email: [email protected]. Avionics Magazine (ISSN-1085-9284) is published monthly by Access Intelligence, LLC, 4 Choke Cherry Rd., Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850. Periodicals Postage Paid at Rockville, MD, and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: Free to qualified individuals directly involved in the avionics industry. All other subscriptions, U.S.: one year $99; two years $188. Canada: one year $129; two years $228. Foreign: one year $149; two years $278. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Avionics Magazine, P.O. Box 3092, Northbrook, IL 60065-3092. Change of address two to eight weeks notice requested. Send both new and old address, including mailing label to Attn: Avionics Magazine, Customer services, P.O. Box 3092, Northbrook, IL 60065-3092, or call 847-559-7314. Email: [email protected]. Canada Post PM40063731. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5 ©2011 by Access Intelligence, LLC Contents may not be reproduced in any form without written permission.

Printed in U.S.A.

also in this issue

July 2011 • Vol. 35, No. 7

www.avionicstoday.com

Visit www.avionicstoday.com to begin a

subscription to the digital edition of Avionics.

■E-Letters• Review of top developments in the civil

and military aircraft electronics industry

■Webinars www.aviationtoday.com/webinars

• Global Partnerships in Avionics Development Engineering

• UAS Civil Airspace Integration: Progress and Challenges

• Issues in Air Traffic Management

• Business Jet Connections: In-Flight Connectivity Services and Solutions for

Business Aircraft

• Airborne RFID: Radio Frequency Identification Takes Off

■Online Resources• Aerospace Acronym Guide

www.aviationtoday.com/av/acronym/a.html

• White Papers, Tech Reports

www.aviationtoday.com/at/otherdocs/

• Aviation Today’s Job Board

www.aviationtoday.com/aviationjobs/

Follow Avionics Magazine

on Twitter and Facebook:

twitter.com/AvionicsMag

facebook.com/pages/Avionics-Magazine

Cover: A Rafale lands in Solenzara, Corsica, in May.Photos courtesy Jean-Michel Guhl and EMACOM

Editor’s NoteAvionics Globalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

DepartmentsScan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15New Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Police Mission Equipment ............................16Next-generation avionics mission equipment in law enforcement aircraft provides

enhanced communication and surveillance capabilities.

by Ernie Stephens

Rafale in Combat ......................................... 20The French fighter jet, equipped with new imaging processing, munition and targeting

pods, demonstrates its power in missions over Libya.

by Jean-Michel Guhl

28

ADS-B Equipage .......................................... 24With the 2020 deadline looming, operators must examine regulatory and integration

hurdles to equipping their aircraft with the technology.

by Dr. Ingrid Knox

Data Acquisition .......................................... 28Operators and regulators are looking at new ways to utilize the growing bank of data

acquired and stored on aircraft.

by Ed McKenna

business/ga

military

industry

product focus

4 Avionics Magazine July 2011 www.avionicstoday.com

editor’s noteb y E m i l y F e l i z

Avionics Globalization

It’s not news to anyone reading this pub-lication that globalization is in full force and is not slowing down any time soon. Within companies, employees can com-

municate and collaborate on projects as eas-ily as if they were sitting in the same office.

And beyond that, establishing a global network of partnerships between companies can yield significant operational, strategic and financial benefits for all the companies involved. I see it happening all the time — international companies collaborate in avionics system design and engineering, specifically the interaction of information technology and engineering departments, in completing complex, end-to-end systems.

It is happening everywhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It can be difficult to establish and a challenge to maintain this type of supplier network, particularly in the area of avionics engineering, according to speakers of an Avionics Magazine Webinar, “Global Partnerships in Avionics Development Engineering.” The Webinar, recorded on June 8 and sponsored by Infotech Enterprises, based in Hyderabad, India, is free and available for on-demand viewing at www.aviationtoday.com/webinars.

The locations of the participants of the Webinar itself spoke to the increasing global nature of this business, with speakers from India, Germany, Puerto Rico and the United States, and listeners from all corners of the globe, including many from emerging markets. Panelists stressed that these types of global partnerships will be increasing for the avionics world, particularly in emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and others. And cost pressures — the main driver for many of these partnerships — aren’t going away any time soon, the panelists said.

The basis of a successful global partnership, according to the panelists, is to clearly establish your organization’s goals and objectives and identify your organization’s strengths and weaknesses, and more specifically what value another company or companies could add.

“To really maximize your value in avion-ics, the key is to focus on your core competen-cies while expanding your existing portfolio

and finding an engineering partner who com-plements you. A partner has to be capable of taking on complete subsystems,” said Sanjay Sharma, general manager and practice head for avionics at Infotech. “Today’s [avionics] business is perfectly suited as a global plat-form for global engineering.”

For example, Sharma said, a typical global avionics partnership could include product development, program manage-ment, manufacturing, system integration, maintenance and customer support — all in different geographic locations. “The manner by which our flat world has evolved over a period of time, especially from a perspective of engineering services, has been phenom-enal,” Sharma said.

Managing that global network, however, can be difficult, to say the least. One ques-tioner during the Webinar asked how much “hand holding” was needed to ensure sup-pliers and subcontractors are all on the same page and progressing with the end goal. The question is valid — how do you keep tabs on your partners when there are wide gaps in culture, language and geography? Where is the tipping point that the time and energy required to manage the vast network out-weighs the time and energy it would take to simply do it yourself ? Longer-term relation-ships can help; trust that is built during the course of a project can reduce the amount of “hand holding” necessary. Panelists said, however, that this is all part of the process.

“One of the things that can be done for this is to recognize that the type of ‘hand holding’ so to speak is a risk to success and treating it just like any other risk — estab-lishing a risk mitigation plan, understading the issues that might require more customer support than would be expected and then working to mitigate those risks as the pro-gram starts and is executed,” said Brett Lynch, chief engineer for systems and soft-ware at Infotech Aerospace Services in Isa-bela, Puerto Rico.

The basis of

a successful

global

partnership is to

clearly establish

your

organization’s

goals and

objectives and

identify your

organization’s

strengths and

weaknesses.

breathe easy

Increase safety and route efficiency in congested airspaces with

Honeywell’s TCAS Change 7.1

As air traffic is expected to double in the next 20 years, you’ll need to be prepared with advanced

safety solutions that also provide efficiency and operational value as your fleet grows. Available

today, Honeywell’s Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) with Change 7.1 is

the only system that utilizes ADS-B Hybrid Surveillance and SmartTraffic™ technology to meet

pending Change 7.1 mandates, while maximizing fuel and routing efficiency. Future ADS-B

and ATM requirements will be met with quick software upgrades to your existing Honeywell

equipment, reducing maintenance costs and aircraft downtime. So, breathe easier about

congested airspace and future safety mandates with TCAS solutions from Honeywell.

For more information, visit www.honeywell.com/Change71Now.

©2011 Honeywell International Inc.

L A U E R M A N

easyyw111277

7" 10" 7.875" 10.75" 8.125" 11"

4 Choke Cherry Rd., 2nd Floor

Rockville, MD 20850

Phone: 301/354-2000

Fax: 301/340-3169

For photocopy or reuse requests:

800-772-3350 or [email protected]

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Emily Feliz

301-354-1820

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Frank Alexander, Frank Colucci, Ron Laurenzo,

George Marsh, Ed McKenna,

James W. Ramsey, Jean-Michel Guhl

ADVERTISING & BUSINESS

PUBLISHER

Tish Drake

800-325-0156

[email protected]

SALES MANAGER

Susan Joyce

480-607-5040

[email protected]

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Joy Park

PRODUCTION MANAGER Tony Campana

301-354-1689

[email protected]

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Sarah Garwood

[email protected]

FULFILLMENT MANAGER George Severine

[email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES/BACK ISSUES 847-559-7314

LIST SALES

Statlistics

Jen Felling

203-778-8700

[email protected]

REPRINTS

Wright’s Media

1-877-652-5295

[email protected]

Access Intelligence, LLC

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Don Pazour

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Ed Pinedo

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES

& ADMINISTRATION

Macy L. Fecto

DIVISIONAL PRESIDENT

Heather Farley

VICE PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER

Joe Rosone

VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCTION & MANUFACTURING

Michael Kraus

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

Sylvia Sierra

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

Robert Paciorek

VICE PRESIDENT FINANCIAL PLANNING AND INTERNAL AUDIT

Steve Barber


EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Bill Carey

301-354-1818

[email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR

Emily Feliz

301-354-1820

[email protected]






PUBLISHER

Tish Drake

800-325-0156

[email protected]

SALES MANAGER

Susan Joyce

480-607-5040

[email protected]

DESIGN & PRODUCTION


PRODUCTION MANAGER Tony Campana

301-354-1689

[email protected]



[email protected]


[email protected]


LIST SALES

Statlistics

Jen Felling

203-778-8700

[email protected]

REPRINTS

Wright’s Media

1-877-652-5295

[email protected]



Don Pazour


Ed Pinedo


& ADMINISTRATION

Macy L. Fecto


Heather Farley


Joe Rosone


Michael Kraus


Sylvia Sierra


Robert Paciorek


Steve Barber

www.avionicstoday.com February 2011 Avionics Magazine 7

4 Choke Cherry Rd., 2nd Floor

Rockville, MD 20850

Phone: 301/354-2000

Fax: 301/340-3169

For photocopy or reuse requests:

800-772-3350 or [email protected]

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Emily Feliz

301-354-1820

[email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR

Debra Richards

301-354-1877

[email protected]






PUBLISHER

Tish Drake

800-325-0156

[email protected]

SALES MANAGER

Susan Joyce

480-607-5040

[email protected]

DESIGN & PRODUCTION


PRODUCTION MANAGER Sophie Chan-Wood

301-354-1671

[email protected]



[email protected]


[email protected]


LIST SALES

Statlistics

Jen Felling

203-778-8700

[email protected]

REPRINTS

Wright’s Media

1-877-652-5295

[email protected]



Don Pazour


Ed Pinedo


& ADMINISTRATION

Macy L. Fecto


Heather Farley


Joe Rosone


Michael Kraus


Sylvia Sierra


Robert Paciorek


Steve Barber

VICE PRESIDENT/CORPORATE CONTROLLER

Gerald Stasko

Using fl oppy disks and CDs to distribute Software Parts to one plane after the other wastes time and can lead to human error. LoadStar® Server Enterprise (LSE), Teledyne’s scalable solution, automates the entire data distribution process.

With the press of a button, you can confi gure and store software parts once, and seamlessly distribute them

from desktop to data loaders across any size fl eet. No more struggling with old media! And when a mechanic loads the distributed data, loading can be verifi ed instantly.

Secure distribution, reduced man hours, lower costs, and improved regulatory compliance: that’s what Teledyne’s LoadStar® Server Enterprise delivers.

Teledyne’s LoadStar® Server Enterprise is the most

comprehensive, integrated and secure way to manage and

distribute software parts and aircraft data to your airplanes.

To fi nd out how LoadStar® Server Enterprise from Teledyne will benefi t your

operation visit www.teledynecontrols.com/lse or call +1-310-765-3600

Back Offi ce Integration

Secure-Encrypted Data

Improved Compliance

No Floppy

Wireless Technology Available

Nav Database Distribution

at the Press of a Button

Distributing…


Looking for employment within the aviation industry? Trying to fill an open position?

Visit www.aviationtoday.com/jobs and search the Aviation Today job board and resume bank today.

View Jobs Post Jobs

17309

industry scan


COMMERCIAL

Honeywell Acquires EMSHoneywell an-nounced plans on June 13 to pay $491 million to acquire EMS Technologies, based in Norcross, Ga., and the par-ent company of EMS Aviation. The transaction

is expected to be completed in the third quarter.

“We believe that becoming a part of Honeywell will provide EMS businesses with the scale, resources and market pres-ence that should benefit our customers and expand career opportunities for our employees,” said Neil Mackay, president and CEO of EMS Technologies.

Honeywell said the acquisition will enhance its existing capabilities in rugged mobile computing technologies and satel-lite communications within its Automa-tion and Control Solutions and Aerospace businesses.

“EMS is a terrific addition to Honey-well, adding leading positions in attrac-tive markets that are closely aligned with favorable trends in the growing Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) space and com-mercial aerospace, as well as being highly complementary to our existing Scanning and Mobility business,” said Honeywell Chairman and CEO Dave Cote.

“Honeywell is uniquely positioned to acquire EMS due to the strategic fit across EMS’s Global Resource Management and Aviation divisions. The acquisition brings engineering expertise, differentiated tech-nologies, global reach and profitable adja-cent segments that build upon our great positions in good industries and enhance our growth profile,” he said.

Through its $174 million Aviation division, EMS designs and manufactures satellite-based broadband communication systems, serving commercial and defense customers. Additionally, it provides terminals, antennas, in-cabin network devices, rugged data storage and surveil-lance applications predominantly for use on aircraft and in other data gathering objectives.

“Combining EMS products into our Aerospace business means that Honey-well can now deliver the next big leap in satcom technology, a key growth area for aerospace,” said Honeywell Aerospace President and CEO Tim Mahoney. “Our customers will greatly benefit from these new products and solutions, enabling them to leverage the strong global growth of high-speed wireless and satellite data services.”

Laser FinesFAA will begin imposing civil penalties against people who point a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft, Randy Babbitt, FAA administrator, announced June 1.

At a press conference at Ronald Rea-gan National Airport, Babbitt said point-ing a laser at an aircraft from the ground could seriously impair a pilot’s vision and interfere with safety. Individuals who violate the FAA’s regulations could be subject to a maximum civil penalty of $11,000 for interfering with a flight crew.

“We want everyone to realize this is serious, these are not toys and this is dan-gerous,” said Babbitt. “So what they think is an innocent prank can be deadly and to suffer a loss of vision at low altitudes could have very serious consequences to both the crew and the passengers onboard a commercial airplane.”

With more than 1,100 incidents reported nationwide this year of lasers being pointed at aircraft, laser events have steadily increased 300 in 2005 to more than 1,500 in 2009 and 2,800 in 2010, according to FAA.

“Our top priority is protecting the safety of the traveling pubic,” said Sec-retary of Transportation Ray LaHood. “We will not hesitate to take tough action against anyone who threatens the safety our passengers, pilots and air transporta-tion system.”

So far this year, the Phoenix and Dallas-Fort Worth areas each have recorded more than 45 laser events. The Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Houston areas each have recorded more than 30 laser events, an increase likely due to greater awareness and outreach to pilots to encourage reporting. “The potential for real harm exists. That’s why we’re tak-ing such an aggressive stance. ... These are dangerous, distractive and they can result in permanent eye damage to flight crew members,” said Babbitt.

ATC SafetyFAA Administrator Randy Babbitt reas-sured Congress in May that the agen-cy is addressing the recent troubles in air traffic control towers and reiter-ated the steps FAA is taking to reduce

air traffic controller incidents.Testifying before the Senate Commit-

tee on Commerce, Science & Transporta-tion Subcommittee on Aviation Opera-tions, Safety & Security on Air Traffic Control Safety Oversight on May 24, Babbitt said FAA has made “significant changes to longtime scheduling practices to reduce the possibility of fatigue — including establishing a minimum of nine hours between shifts. And we will do more,” including adding a second con-troller on the midnight shift in facilities where there was only one and changing management in “critical positions to ensure that we have the right people in the right places.”

“We’ve also found it necessary to ter-minate three controllers who slept on the job. This type of behavior is completely unacceptable,” he said.

Babbitt attributed the increase in inci-dents to an error reporting system, Air Traffic Safety Action Program, instituted in 2008 and designed to foster a volun-tary, cooperative, non-punitive environ-ment for the open reporting of safety of flight concerns by FAA employees.

“We are gathering more information than we ever had previously — and that data will allow for more informed deci-sions moving forward to enhance the safety of our system ... Nobody likes to see operational errors, especially me. But we are getting the data we need to improve safety,” he said.

Connectivity PartnershipRow 44, based in Westlake Village, Calif., formed a partnership with MRO provider Lufthansa Technik.

Under terms of the partnership, announced June 6, commercial airlines that select Row 44’s in-flight broadband entertainment system will be able to take advantage of Lufthansa Technik’s installation, certification and integration services. Row 44 said it will work closely

Tim Mahoney

Randy Babbitt


with Lufthansa Technik to reduce instal-lation and maintenance time and costs and reduce overall project risks.

“Row 44 is extending our services globally,” said Vice President of Sales Frederick St. Amour. “Working with such a highly respected and successful engineering services firm as Lufthansa Technik gives us tremendous confidence that Row 44’s products and airline part-nerships will be well supported and highly successful worldwide.”

“This partnership means an important milestone in our strategy for the expan-sion of our installation-design engineering and certification services in the in-flight entertainment and in-flight connectiv-ity market. We are happy to be given the chance to bring in our wide ranging experience and knowledge which we could successfully gain from various related projects in the past,” said Stephan Schulte, product manager for aircraft modifica-tion and engineering services in IFE at Lufthansa.

“Therefore, we are confident to enhance Row 44’s in-flight-broadband product by contributing quality and form-ing this strong alliance with each party sticking to its core competencies.”

EFB STCCarlisle Interconnect Technologies/ECS, based in St. Augustine, Fla., was awarded a FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) for the installation of three config-urations of a Class 3 electronic flight bag (EFB) on Boeing 737-600s, -700s, 700Cs, -800s, -900s and -900ERs. The STC was the company’s 100th overall and its 13th related to the EFB installation.

To accommodate the varying needs of airline operators the STC design incor-porates three different configurations –– basic (power, ground and Ethernet cross-talk); intermediate (basic plus aircraft data bus connectivity); and heavy user (increased aircraft data connectivity).

“The net result is the ability to satisfy the operational needs of a wide range of airline customers EFB installation pro-grams in a time compressed schedule,” said Randy Dohs, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies EFB product manager.

“Our expertise lies in our ability to bring all the components together, from a simple display mount to a fully integrated EFB installation including design, certifi-cation and PMAed kits.”

BUSINESS/GA

Honeywell EASy II TSO’edHoneywell received FAA Technical Stan-dard Order (TSO) approval for its Primus Epic-based EASy II software package for the Dassault Falcon 900 EASy series business jet, Honeywell announced at the

European Business Aviation Association’s (EBACE) annual conference and exhibi-tion in May.

EASy II is the second application of the SmartView family. Features of the EASy II include Honeywell’s Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), Satellite Based Augmenta-tion System-Localizer Performance

At Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, we are focused on providing customized

solutions to the advancing world of flight management. From the factory floor

to certification, we can equipt your cockpit with the most suitable

EFB mounting apparatus with all the accompanying interconnects

no matter what system you choose.

www.CarlisleIT.com5300 W. Franklin Drive,

Franklin, WI 53132

Toll Free - 800.327.9473

Fax - 414.421.5301

industry scan


NEED A DIRECT FLIGHT TOA PAPERLESS COCKPIT?WE’RE RIGHT ALONGSIDE.

Start with the EFB...include a high-resolution aerospace-grade displayand a high-speed processor...have it ready to support both currentand future technologies…support it with full ��/�/�� technicalservices...and what have you got?

The Goodrich Cockpit Data Management system—a turnkey,integrated EFB package of hardware, software, and support servicesthat allows flight crews and flight ops to perform critical groundand in-flight data management tasks faster and more efficiently.

® EFB, configured as a Class � or � platform

Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

with Vertical guidance (SBAS-LPV), the SmartRunway and Automatic Descent Mode features and Automatic Descent Mode. Other new Dassault EASy II flight deck configuration features include FMS improvements, ADS-B Out Transponder, XM Graphical Weather and Dual Jeppes-sen charts.

Dassault is working to certify EASy II on the Falcon 900 EASy series with an upgrade scheduled for release later this year.

“The progress made by the EASy II avionics suite — up to and including today’s announcement of FAA certifica-tion — has been remarkable,” said Rob Wilson, president of Honeywell Business and General Aviation. “A wide range of upgrades, improving both efficiency and safety performance, will ensure EASy II’s place at the forefront of business avionics for years to come.”

Honeywell CMSEmbraer selected Honeywell’s Ovation Select Cabin Management System (CMS) for its new family of Legacy 450/500 jets, the companies announced in May.

Honeywell’s Ovation Select system enables in-flight connectivity, via pas-sengers’ personal devices. An additional updated feature is the 3-D high-definition moving map application JetMap HD, which allows passengers to view their flight path from up to 18 different per-spectives and zoom-in on the terrain below. In addition to controlling the system’s entertainment and productivity components, Ovation Select also puts lighting, seats, temperature, galley and window shade controls. The system also provides surround sound audio, high-def-inition video and digital communication distribution throughout the cabin. The system is controlled by icon-based, touch-screen interfaces. The Ovation Select is on track for a planned certification in July 2011, Honeywell said.

“The second generation Ovation Select digital cabin system delivers unprecedented connectivity to meet the expectations and needs of today’s busi-ness passenger,” said Rob Wilson, presi-dent of Honeywell Business and General Aviation. “Moreover, it is scalable to satisfy the growing bandwidth demands of tomorrow’s high-tech communication devices.”

Ovation Select is built on a digital architecture and Ethernet backbone. Honeywell said it has been tested to the

current industry standard for greater resiliency of environmental and electro-magnetic effects. The system architecture is scalable from general aviation aircraft up to and including air transport catego-ry business and personal aircraft.

Pro Line Fusion STCRockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion inte-grated avionics system received FAA supplemental type certification (STC) on the company’s experimental test aircraft, the company announced May 17.

“This certification affirms the flex-ibility and adaptability of the Pro Line Fusion system, and enables aircraft manufacturers to more easily install and certify the system on their respective platforms,” said Greg Irmen, vice presi-dent and general manager, Business and Regional Systems for Rockwell Collins. “We continue to progress toward Pro Line Fusion’s entry into service and are working with customers to achieve more certifications in the coming months.”

In April, the system received its final FAA Technical Standard Order, certify-ing the hardware and software.

Features of the system include syn-thetic vision on the head-up display; air-port visualization enhancements, includ-ing the synthetic vision Airport Dome that orients pilots before descent and target runway highlighting on the airport diagram; networked capability enabling interoperability to synchronize the aircraft and ground systems and make database

updates; and a software-based architec-ture which simplifies aircraft certification.

Helicopter MergerAir medical transportation company Air Methods Corp., of Denver, announced plans to acquire OF Air Holdings Corp. and its subsidiaries, including Omniflight Helicopters, of Addison, Texas, in a $200 million cash deal.

Upon closing, Omniflight will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Meth-ods. The transaction was expected to close in July 2011.

Omniflight has a fleet of approximate-ly 100 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

“The operational efficiencies that this combination should create will allow both entities to maintain and enhance the qual-ity of our services, while providing for a more competitive cost structure resulting from greater economies of scale,” said Aaron Todd, CEO for Air Methods.

MILITARY

Processor ContractThe U.S. Air Force awarded General Dynamics Advanced Information Sys-tems a $7.8 million contract to develop an Open System Architecture (OSA) com-mon back-end digital processor for the entire family of Air Force radio frequency (RF) electronic devices, to include radars, SIGINT sensors, electronic-warfare and communication systems.

The ATR 72-600 turboprop received EASA certification in June. This certification covers the new equipment on the aircraft, including the Thales avionics sys-tems. Thales developed a modular avionics architecture for the cockpit, which is equipped with five wide-screen LCDs, a Flight Management System, an automatic pilot system and an AFDX (Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet) network. ATR said it expects to begin deliveries this summer with Royal Air Maroc.

Pho

to c

ourt

esy A

TR


NEED A DIRECT FLIGHT TOA PAPERLESS COCKPIT?WE’RE RIGHT ALONGSIDE.

Start with the EFB...include a high-resolution aerospace-grade displayand a high-speed processor...have it ready to support both currentand future technologies…support it with full ��/�/�� technicalservices...and what have you got?

The Goodrich Cockpit Data Management system—a turnkey,integrated EFB package of hardware, software, and support servicesthat allows flight crews and flight ops to perform critical groundand in-flight data management tasks faster and more efficiently.

® EFB, configured as a Class � or � platform

Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

industry scan


Under the contract, General Dynam-ics will use open interface standards to develop modular, “plug and play,” multi-mission electronic back-end processors that leverage technologies developed under other OSA initiatives conducted by the Office of Naval Research. General Dynamics will provide a family of proces-sors capable of handling the digital pro-cessing needs of all Air Force RF systems.

Work will be performed in Blooming-ton, Minn., Fairfax, Va., Waimea, Hawaii, and Ypsilanti, Mich.

“Leveraging our proven open archi-tecture and open business model, General Dynamics will provide the Air Force with an increased airborne and spaceborne processing capability and a significant reduction in life-cycle cost,” said Mike Tweed-Kent, vice president and general manager of Mission Integration Systems Division for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems.

New PMA-209 ChiefCapt. Tracy Barkh-imer has taken over as the new program manager Air Combat Elec-tronics, PMA-209, at the Naval Air Systems Command in Paxtuxent River, Md. (Pax River). Barkhimer replaces

Capt. Ralph Portnoy, who retired from the U.S. Navy after 26 years of service.

Most recently, Barkhimer was chief of staff to Program Executive Officer, Air ASW, Assault and Special Mission Programs.

Previously, her tours include the V-22 Osprey avionics systems project officer; H-3 assistant program manager for sys-tems and engineering; assault directed infrared countermeasures Integrated Product Team (IPT) lead; F/A-18 EO/IR deputy IPT lead; Navy & Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems IPT lead; Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) Source Selection team member; and the deputy director for Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft International Programs.

She also served as the MH-60S pro-gram integrator and government flight representative at Defense Contract Man-agement Agency Sikorsky in Stratford, Conn., from 2001 to 2004.

UNMANNED SYSTEMS

Thales UAV TestsThales, along with its partner Boeing, tested the full automatic landing of a one-ton class Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) UAV, the company said June 14.

The automatic landing was carried out on the back of a moving trailer, rep-resenting the movement of a ship’s deck, Thales said.

The flight tests took place at the New Mexico SpacePort, using Boe-ing’s Unmanned Little Bird air vehicle. According to Thales, the tests prove the demonstrator, which is based on Thales’ MAGIC Automatic Take Off and Land-ing System, is able to provide the relative position of the drone in relation to the platform and ensure flight guidance and control with a better accuracy than GPS. The system operates at a long range inde-pendently of GPS signals, in all weather conditions.

Thales plans more flight tests, includ-ing ones fitting the demonstrator on to a three axis-moving table representing the movements of the ship’s deck.

Sensor PayloadsThe Northrop Grumman Firebird intelligence-gathering air system success-fully used three different high-definition video sensors and an electronics support payload all at the same time, the company said June 14.

The flight, which took place in May at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., marks the first time three electro-optical, infrared sen-sors have been used simultaneously with a fourth payload on an aircraft.

“Firebird’s universal interface is what makes this all possible,” said Rick Crooks, director of special projects and Firebird program manager for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. “It’s very similar to plugging a memory stick into a computer — it’s automatically recognized without needing to load new software. With this ‘plug-and-play’ technology we can place many different sensors on Firebird and operate them in a matter of minutes.”

Crooks said this capability reduces the time needed to replace sensors; the flight team can install the three high-definition full-motion video (HD FMV)

Skylark Tests

Elbit Systems, based in Haifa, Israel, completed a series of tests of its Skylark I LE mini/man-pack unmanned aerial system (UAS) using the Dominator hardware to control and operate the UAS, the company said June 13.

During the tests, the Skylark was operated by a Forward Ground Control Station (FGCS), us-ing the Dominator hardware. The FGCS is comprised of four main components aside from the UAS, all of which are geared on the soldier’s vest: FGCS computer, tactical hand-held display, operator stick and an active Skylark Rambo transducer that fits as an additional radio into the soldier’s vest. For covert operations, an eyepiece can be used instead of the hand-held display.

The FGCS allows dismounted soldiers to carry minimum gear for optimal operational ef-ficiency, as the UAS can be launched by Dispatcher Units, transferring control of the operation to the Forward Units when the UAS reaches their range.

Pho

to c

ourt

esy E

lbit S

yste

ms

Capt. Tracy Barkhimer


sensors, and a communications payload, in less than an hour. “Not only can sol-diers on the ground and aircraft crews see the video and data, but they also control the sensors independently,” said Crooks. “This two-way control really puts the power of Firebird’s systems in their hands. By being able to go through a remote terminal or a cellular phone, we’ve made it possible for soldiers on the front-line to more effectively use these systems to gain the edge they need.”

The three HD FMV sensors were supplied by FLIR Systems, with the fourth payload being the Northrop Grumman-produced Common Sig-nals Intelligence System 1500. The team was able to switch between eight different sensors during the exercise.

CONTRACTS

➤ Raytheon received an $84.7 million contract from U.S. Naval Air Systems Command for continued production of ALR-67(V)3 digital radar warning receiv-ers. The ALR-67(V)3 is the U.S. Navy standard for digital radar warning receiver technology. It is designed for installation on all frontline, carrier-based F/A-18 E/Fs. The ALR-67(V)3 combines fully chan-nelized digital receiver architecture with the power of dual processors. It is able to detect emitters in high-density electro-magnetic environments. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2013 with production

scheduled at Raytheon facilities in Forest, Miss., and McKinney, Texas.➤ Boeing subsidiary Insitu, of Bingen, Wash., was awarded an $83.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy for opera-tions and maintenance services in sup-port government-owned ScanEagle unmanned aerial systems (UAS), includ-ing training courses ranging from system pilot training, maintenance and opera-tions, mission coordinator and payload operator; multiple kits for sustainment, payload and engine module kits; and multiple spare parts for ScanEagle UAS. Work will be performed in Bingen, Wash., and is expected to be completed in May 2012.➤ Boeing received a $61 million U.S. Air Force contract for two more C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) kits and two Aircrew Training System devices as part of a low-rate initial pro-duction contract that was awarded in 2010. Boeing said it is building two new C-130 AMP Aircrew Training System devices, a Weapon System Trainer and an Avionics Part Task Trainer. The train-ing devices will be developed at supplier CAE USA’s Tampa, Fla., facility and delivered to the Arkansas Air National Guard C-130 AMP training center at Lit-tle Rock Air Force Base, Ark., in 2014.➤ Becker Avionics, based in Miramar, Fla., will supply its DVCS6100 Digi-tal Audio System for Fairfax County, Va., Police Helicopter Division’s new

Bell 429s. The DVCS6100 manages all transceivers, receivers and audio warn-ing sources in one central system and provides simulcast capabilities on eight channels. The main system components are the Remote Electronic Unit 6100, Audio Control Unit 6100 and optional Intercom Amplifier IC3100. ➤ Virgin Atlantic renewed multiple communication services contracts with ARINC, of Annapolis, Md., including comprehensive data link, voice and satel-lite services. Virgin Atlantic also renewed its contract for ARINC OpCenter mes-sage management, a hosted service, which offers carriers global delivery and access to Data Link messages. ➤ Fraport AG, the owner and manager of Frankfurt Airport, will upgrade its Sensis Corp. multilateration system to accommodate capacity expansion and growth at the airport. The multi-lateration system uses multiple low-maintenance, non-rotating sensors to triangulate aircraft locations based on transponder signals to provide air traffic controllers with precise aircraft position and identification information regardless of weather conditions. Frankfurt Airport was the industry’s first airport to select multilateration for surface surveillance, awarding Sensis a contract back in 1999. Since then, the Sensis system has been expanded or altered several times to meet FRA’s changing geographic and traffic requirements.

Avionics Interface Systems (AIS): Technology and expertise to cost effectively integrate diverse aircraft systems and protocols for:

• Aircraft Sustainment

• Regulatory Mandates (CNS/ATM, ADS-B, HTAWS, etc.)

• Avionics Upgrade Programs

Small Box Solution for Big Box Communication

Contact us at www.shadin.com 1.800.328.0584 or 952.927.6500

The Avionics

Mediator


peopleThomas MarroccoTrueNorth Avionics, based in Ottawa, Canada, named Thomas Marrocco vice president of worldwide sales.

Most recently, Marrocco led enter-prise software sales for the global com-mercial aviation and MRO marketplace at Mxi Technologies, and previously held senior executive positions within the tele-communications and IT industry, includ-ing at two start-up companies he helped co-found and at iSTAR Internet, Siemens and AT&T Canada.

Walter W. Roney IIThe Airline Avionics Institute (AAI) named Walter W. Roney II business manager, effective Jan. 1, 2012. Roney is replacing the retiring Phil Wright.

Roney has more than 35 years of airline customer support and business development experience, working at Hamilton Sundstrand, Cessna Aircraft and most recently with BAE Sys-tems-Platform Solutions. Roney is also an eight-year member of AAI’s Board of Directors, currently serving as vice president.

Charles CarrollUniversal Avionics Systems, of Tucson, Ariz., named Charles Carroll U.S. southeast region marketing manager.

Carroll has more than 30 years experience in the avionics industry. Before Universal, he worked in the corporate aviation market, managing avionics service and upgrades. Previously, Carroll owned and managed CCAvionics, working with Univer-sal to modify corporate aircraft with Universal equipment.

Bruno SpagnoliniBruno Spagnolini was named CEO of AgustaWestland. He succeeds Giuseppe Orsi, who has taken over as CEO of par-ent company Finmeccanica. Spagnolini has served as chief operating officer (COO) since 2007 and CEO of Agusta S.p.A. since 2004.

The company’s board of directors also named Giorgio Brazzelli chairman. Formerly Brazzelli was chairman of Ale-nia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronautica.

Travis ChristRow 44, of Westlake Village, Calif., named Travis Christ as chief sales and airline business development officer. Christ joins Row 44 from Travelport, where he was its Americas division presi-dent. Prior to that, he spent 13 years at US Airways, serving as vice president of marketing, sales and distribution.

Peter WeigandTTTech, of Vienna, Austria, named Peter Weigand to its execu-tive board, with responsibility for sales and marketing activities.

Most recently, Weigand was senior vice president, sales, marketing and services at Grace Semiconductor Manufactur-ing Corp. in Shanghai. He held various management positions in the areas of engineering, marketing and sales in the United States, Germany and China.

James BrandtEsterline Corp. named 25-year aerospace industry veteran James Brandt to head the company’s Defense Technologies busi-ness platform, which includes six manufacturing facilities in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Brandt began his career in the U.S. Navy as an avionics and electronics technician. He then spent nearly 20 years with Lock-heed Martin in a variety of roles and was also president and CEO of Terma North America, an offshoot of the Denmark-based aerospace and defense supplier Terma Corp.

Gary NewportComlux Aviation Services, based in Indianapolis, promoted Gary Newport to program manager.

Newport joined Comlux Aviation Services, formerly Comb Gates, in 1979 after eight years of service in the U.S. Navy.

Matthew WrightLandmark Aviation named Matthew Wright general manager of the company’s Scottsdale, Ariz., FBO and MRO operations.

Wright was most recently with Atlantic Aviation as general manager and regional manager of maintenance operations.

Dick ApplegateElbit Systems Ltd. appointed retired Lt. Gen. Dick Applegate chairman of Elbit Systems U.K. His role will be to define a growth strategy for Elbit in the U.K. and to develop closer ties to the customer community and to the defense industry.

Applegate joins Elbit following a career with the British Army, including stints as chief of materiel in Defense Equipment and Support and member of the Army Board.

Elaine Morin, Steve MulloyCSSI, based in Washington, D.C., named Elaine Morin pro-gram manager and Steve Mulloy deputy program manager for the Electronic FAA Accelerated and Simplified Tasks (eFAST) AJS Contract.

Morin has more than 30 years of air traffic experience and more than seven years of safety management experience. She has managed progressively larger contracts since joining CSSI six years ago.

Mulloy has more than 26 years of professional experience in aviation and is a retired Navy commander. Prior to eFAST, he served as program manager for CSSI’s Airports SMS contract.

Chris HoyAirline Services, based in Manchester, U.K., appointed Chris Hoy head of sales, customer services and business development, for its newly formed Air-craft Component Repair division, to be based at Stansted Airport.

Hoy has more than 35 years of expe-rience in the component maintenance business. He previously worked for FLS Aerospace, ATEL, Qualitair and Flight-spares in component maintenance and parts trading.

Chris Hoy

Dick Applegate

Bruno Spagnolini

Thomas Marrocco


calendar

July

20-23 Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA) Annual Conference

and Exhibition, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans. Contact

ALEA, phone 301-631-2406 or visit www.alea.org.

25-31 EAA AirVenture, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis. Visit

www.airventure.org.

August

16-19 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International

Unmanned Systems North America, Walter E. Washington Convention Cen-

ter, Washington, D.C. Visit www.auvsi.org.

16-21 MAKS 2011 International Aviation & Space Salon, Zhukovsky,

Moscow Region, Russia. Visit www.aviasalon.com.

28-30 2011 Aerospace Engineering Conference, Hilton Waterfront Beach

Resort, Huntington Beach, Calif. Visit www.lmsintl.com/events/

lmsconferences/us/aerospace.

September

11-15 Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Conference &

Exhibition, Washington State Convention Center, Seattle. Visit

http://apex.aero.

12-15 Autotestcon 2011, Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore. Visit

http://autotestcon.com.

13-14 Avionics for NextGen, sponsored by Avionics Magazine. Caesers

Atlantic City Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, N.J. For registration and sponsorship

information, visit www.AvionicsforNextGen.com.

October

3-5 Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) Annual Conference & Exposi-

tion, Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, Md.

Contact ATCA, phone 703-299-2430 or visit www.atca.org.

10-12 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Annual Meeting &

Convention, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas. Contact NBAA, phone

202-783-9000 or visit www.nbaa.com.

10-12 Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting & Exposition,

Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. Contact AUSA,

phone 703-841-4300 or visit www.ausa.org.

16-20 Digital Avionics Systems Conference, Renaissance Seattle Hotel,

Seattle. Visit dasconline.org.

November

13-17 Dubai Airshow, Airport Expo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For infor-

mation, phone +44 (0) 20 8846 2700 or visit dubaiairshow.aero.

2012

January

19-21 Bahrain International Air Show 2012, Sakhir Air Base, Bahrain. Visit

www.farnborough.com.

February

11-14 Heli-Expo 2012, Dallas Convention Center, Dallas. Visit

www.heliexpo.com.

28-March 1 Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE),

Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Centre, Shanghai. Visit

www.abace.aero.

March

6-8 ATC Global 2012, Amsterdam RAI Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Visit www.atcevents.com.

April

15-18 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition, Gaylord National Resort &

Convention Center, National Harbor, Md. Visit www.seaairspace.org.

PARTNERORGANISERWWW.COMPOSITES-EUROPE.COM

Efficiency made light!

27 - 29 SEPTEMBER 2011

STUTTGART | GERMANY

6th European Trade Fair & Forum for Composites, Technology and Applications

CE_advert_178x120_Layout 1 01.06.11 16:11 Seite 1


business/ga

By Ernie Stephens

Painting the words “police” or “sheriff” on the side of a helicopter does not a law enforcement helicopter make. It’s the mission equipment —

the search lights, radios, video systems, etc. — that make it a police helicopter. Even in the 1960s and 70s, when police departments in the United States were first finding their wings but didn’t have access to the technology found on today’s aircraft, officers still understood that they needed more than their surplus military helicopters to adequately patrol their jurisdictions.

Tom Feddon was one of the first pilots to fly for the Metropolitan Police Depart-

ment in Washington, D.C. He fondly recalls the early days of police aviation (circa 1970), when making their aircraft a useful platform took a bit of ingenuity and innovation.

“The Bell-47 [similar to the aircraft made famous in the 1970s TV series M*A*S*H] was our first helicopter, but it only had aviation radios,” recalled Fed-don, who retired as the agency’s chief pilot in 1991. “So, we mounted a motor-cycle radio on some isolation mounts on the tail boom, ran a control head up to the front, and that’s what we were using for police radios.

“There were no gyro-stabilized bin-oculars, so we used regular binoculars,” said Feddon. “But those didn’t work very

well. If you tried to look through them in a turn, they made you sick. We had to pull into a hover to make it easier.”

Feddon said search lights came onboard a few years later, but that was about as far as police avionics went dur-ing the city’s Bell-47 days. Better radios and search lights would come in the 1980s, when the department upgraded to turbine aircraft.

Complex police mission equipment is no longer an afterthought, though. The gear that goes aboard patrol aircraft is just as important — and often just as expensive — as the aircraft itself. Just ask Matt Murphey, who serves with the Air-craft Section of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

POLICE MISSION

The Texas Department of Public Safety operates a fleet Eurocopter EC145s, single-engine Cessnas, engine Aero Commander Eurocopter AS350 (above).

Pho

to/E

rnie

Ste

phens

Next-generation avionics mission equipment in law enforcement aircraft

provide enhanced communication and surveillance capabilities


“Our 2008 aircraft was $1.5 million, and we spent another $1.5 million on equipment,” said Murphey, whose job it is to select equipment for the agency’s 15 American Eurocopter helicopters and eight Cessna airplanes. “It included the EFIS [electronic flight instrument system], the thermal imaging camera, the mapping system, six police radios, two aviation radios, navcoms, satellite phones — that kind of stuff.

“The most popular piece of police equipment we use is the moving map system,” said Murphey. “For the officer to be able to pick out an address in a big city or a small town is invaluable. And with all of the wildfires that we’ve had, the aerial mapping feature has gotten really popular with the emergency man-agement folks.”

Equipping the FleetThe Maryland State Police (MSP) in October 2010 ordered four new Agusta Westland AW139 medium twin-engine helicopters. They are the first wave in what is hoped to be a total order of 11 ships to replace the department’s aging fleet of 10 Eurocopter AS365 Dauphins, which first entered service with the avia-tion command in the late 1980s.

Bill Bernard, the director of flight operations, and a retired MSP lieutenant and pilot in his own right, is working on the AW139 acquisition program. This includes the selection of equipment that will serve all three aspects of the com-mand’s mission — law enforcement, homeland security, damage assessment, emergency medical transport and search and rescue.

“It isn’t that we’re unhappy with the Dauphins we’re currently flying, because they served us exceptionally well,” Ber-nard said. “But due to the age of the fleet, it was time to initiate a process for a state-of-the-art aircraft to serve the citizens of Maryland for the next 20 years.”

Different, in this case, will include upgrades and equipment never before sported aboard an MSP helicopter. ➤ Police Radios: A law enforcement heli-copter is useless if its crew doesn’t have a way to relay its observations directly to ground units. This can be particularly complicated in MSP’s case, considering law enforcement agencies in Maryland operate in frequencies ranging from 30 MHz to 960 MHz. Each aircraft must also allow crew members to use and con-trol radios independently from any posi-

MISSION EQUIPMENT

The London Metropolitan Police Department operates this Eurocopter EC145 in patrol and security roles. Onboard equip-ment includes forward-looking infrared, radios and classified anti-terrorism systems.

Department of operates a

EC145s, Cessnas, twin-

Commander and (above).

Pho

to c

ourt

esy E

uro

co

pte

r


tion in the aircraft, without affecting any other crew member.

To fulfill its communication needs, MSP has selected a suite of Wulfsberg RT5000, P25-compliant, digital trans-ceivers from Prescott, Ariz.-based Cob-ham Aerospace Communications. They will be coupled to two control heads on the flight deck, plus four more mounted in the aft cabin, allowing trooper-para-medics to talk to an array of ground-based officers, emergency medical techni-cians and trauma center personnel. ➤ Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR)

Video Camera: Mounted just under the nose in a ball turret, the combination FLIR and color video system is consid-ered by most airborne law enforcement personnel as one of the most important pieces of patrol gear aboard the helicop-ter. The FLIR system creates a black and white image from an object’s heat signature, and displays it on a computer monitor for the flight crew. In total dark-ness, the system is able to “see” nearly everything, from people to freshly ejected bullet casings. The color camera, which shares the same housing as the FLIR sensor, is similar to a professional-quality video camera. Both are often connected to a video cassette or digital recorder in the cockpit.

MSP selected the Wescam MX-15i from L3 Communications’ Wescam divi-sion in Burlington, Ontario, for this duty. The department will tie it into a digital video recorder.➤ Searchlight: A high-powered search-light is a staple aboard all police helicop-ters. Its primary purpose is to illuminate crime scenes and search areas from above. In a medevac role, the pilot uses it to check landing zones for obstructions prior to making final approaches into unimproved areas.

Bernard and his team selected the 40-million candlepower SX-16 Nightsun, with an in-flight infrared change-over (IFCO) feature, from Sylmar, Calif.-based Spectolab. (An IFCO flips a filter over the lens to block out the beam’s white light, allowing passage of only that portion of the light spectrum needed by night vision equipment.) The entire searchlight system can be operated inde-pendently, or slaved to “look” wherever the MX-15i FLIR-video system is aimed.➤ Moving Map: Although Maryland is the eighth smallest state in the United States, finding precise locations as quickly as possible is still extremely important to an aircrew. Therefore, a moving map system is paramount to its ability to function effectively inside of the state’s boundaries, as well as in neighboring states, where they are often called upon under a decades-old mutual aid agreement. The best piece of mission equipment to help crews get around is a moving map system loaded with detailed street and property information, as well as time, track and heading data to any given destination.

EuroAvionics, based in Pforzheim, Germany, has been tapped to provide Maryland State Police with the Euronav moving map system. Its multi-color display can give detailed street informa-tion down to individual addresses, as well as use internally generated aviation navigation chart overlays that show the aircraft’s position in the national airspace system.➤ Digital Video Downlink: “A picture is worth a thousand words” is an old saying that also applies to airborne law enforce-ment, which is why many police helicop-ters equipped with FLIR-video systems utilize digital downlink transmitters to beam what they are looking at to ground

units, much like a television news chop-per sends live views of the morning rush hour to the station. From a police per-spective, ground commanders equipped with receivers can get a birds-eye view of a crime scene, hostage situation or the aftermath of a disaster in real time.

Microwave Radio Communications, based in North Billerica, Mass., will pro-vide its MRC Strata, 625 MHz, digitally encrypted downlink system, mated with an omni-directional antenna. Portable ground receivers for forward-deployed command personnel are included in the deal.➤ Night Vision Goggles: The National Transportation Safety Board has released a series of recommendations calling for the routine use of night vision goggles (NVG) aboard helicopters used for emer-gency medical transports. Many of the law enforcement agencies that provide medevac services are accepting that rec-ommendation, and are equipping their crews with NVGs to aid them in spotting obstacles and terrain at nighttime. In addition to the goggles and the helmet mounts they attach to, the aircraft itself needs to be NVG compatible to help keep standard instrument and interior lights from interfering with the goggles’ ability to process images.

MSP currently uses ANVIS-9 NVGs in a limited way, but will soon train-up all flight crew members to be proficient in their use. The AW139’s cockpit and exterior lights will be NVG compatible, but many of the lights used by the troop-er-paramedics in the aft cabin to tend to patients will not be. To protect the pilots, a blackout curtain separating the two sec-tions of the aircraft will shield the flight deck from the bright lights.

Ernie Stephens is the editor at large for Avionics sister magazine Rotor & Wing.

Pho

to/E

rnie

Ste

phens

Pho

to c

ourt

esy A

ero

Co

mp

ute

rs

Moving map systems, like this unit from by AeroComputers, of Oxnard, Calif., are standard fare on many police helicopters.

In this Bell 407 police helicopter, the non-flying officer sits to the left in front of a mapping system screen and mini-keyboard.


2011 Annual Symposium Accelerating NextGen Through Public-Private Partnership

The RTCA 2011 Annual Symposium would like

to express a heartfelt thank you to all of our sponsoring

companies for making the event a success!

18993

Premier Partner

www.RTCA2011Symposium.com

Bronze Sponsors:

Sponsors:

Silver Sponsors:


military

The French fighter jet, equipped with imaging processing, munition

and targeting pods, demonstrates its power in missions over Libya

By Jean-Michel Guhl

Only a few European manu-facturers produce and devel-op high-tech fighter aircraft. The Eurofighter and the Rafale are the final con-

tenders selected by the Indian air force in the 125+ aircraft purchase program to replace that service’s old MiG-21 fleet. Both companies are gloating about their respective fighter’s warfighting qualities while both aircraft demonstrate excellent combat readiness over the Libyan theatre.

If the nearly decade long anti-Taliban air operations in Afghanistan have kept deployed French air force Mirages, Rafales and Super-Etendards busy on a drop off mode, everything changed in early 2011 when the French Rafales succesfully carried out a series of preci-sion attacks on Colonel Gaddafi’s forces in Libya. The Armée de l’Air’s Rafales conducted, as early as March 19, 6- to 7-hour, pre-strike reconnaissance mis-

sions along the Libyan coastline from their home base in Metropolitan France, assisted by Mirage F1CRs used to collect specific photographic target confirma-tions. Then a night later, Mirage 2000D fighter-bombers and Rafales struck tar-gets deep inside Libya, assisted by United States and the United Kingdom.

With the delivery of the 100th Rafale scheduled for this summer, Dassault Avia-tion will reach a landmark in the aircraft’s production order, which so far stands at 190 for the French air force (71 Rafale Cs and 79 Rafale Bs) and navy (40 Rafale Ms). Production of the Rafale for the French forces is secured until 2019 and is expected to last until 2025. Its lifespan has been set at 50 years, and current plan by the French Ministry of Defense is to equip the navy with 58 Rafale Ms and air force with 228 Rafale B/Cs. By the end of this decade, the Rafale will replace all of the fighter types in service in France (lest a few remaining hundred Mirage 2000D

fighter-bombers and Mirage 2000-5F interceptors), and all military aircraft production in France is now geared to the Rafale and its systems.

The Rafale has been produced in three standards: the F1 for the French navy from mid-2004 — 10 aircraft plus 3 for the French air force now retrofitted to F3 standard — also called Tranche 1; F2 for the French air force and navy from mid-2006 — 48 aircraft since retrofitted to F3 standard — also called Tranche 2; and F3 for the French air force and navy since mid-2008 — 59 aircraft still in the process of delivery — also called Tranche 3; with 60 more to be delivered under Tranche 4 (described as F3+) with series production Thales RBE2/AA active elec-tronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

This summer, the French navy will muster two “flottilles” of Rafales (12F and 11F) operating from the aircraft car-rier Charles-de-Gaulle; and the Air Force a total of four squadrons — EC 1/7, EC

Rafale in Combat

French Air Force Dassault Rafales, pictured at the Solenzara air base flightline in Corsica, are armed and ready to depart for Libyan airspace. All carry a pair of 580-gallon drop tanks for their 6- to 7-hour sorties.

Pho

to/J

ean-M

ichel G

uhl


1/91 and ETR 2/92 at Saint Dizier air base in France, and EC 3/30 at Al Dhafra air base in the UAE. ECE 5/330 at Mont-de-Marsan is a further test squadron used for the permanent evaluation and updat-ing of the Rafale’s systems and weapons. In 2012, a fifth Rafale squadron will be commissioned at Mont-de-Marsan, EC 2/30. Current plans call for the air force to fly three flottilles of Rafale Ms after 2015 and air force some 10 squadrons by 2020.

This year, 94 aircraft will be retrofit-ted to the F3 standard. Next standard of Rafale, now in early production, will be called F3+ (or F3-04T) and will include the Thales RBE2/AA AESA radar, a 360° threat detector (MBDA’s missile approach warning system) and a frontal sector optics set (Sagem’s FSO-IT), all designed to improve data fusion and situ-ational awareness.

“Our aim is to keep the Rafale at top level of performance and interoper-ability. As it is set today, the aircraft’s architecture and platform show that the Rafale will not need any further hardware changes before its mid-life update which should take place around 2025. However a detailled roadmap for the aircraft still has to be built,” said IGA Stéphane Reb, the Rafale program manager at the Direc-tion Générale de l’Armement (DGA), the French Procurement Agency. Fur-ther equipments are being developed to increase the Rafale’s lethality.

Topics under scrutiny include the inte-gration of the MBDA Meteor supersonic BVR air-to-air missile in 2018 and the laser-guided version of the Sagem Arme-ment Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM), plus the development of low collateral dam-age kinetic bombs; the development by Thales of a more powerful laser designa-tion pod; and the adoption of additional modes for the Thales RBE2/AA AESA radar, tactical data link 16 upgrades and electronic warfare suite improvements on the Spectra system.

Advanced SystemsThe 2011 air war operations over Libya have brought the focus on some of the Rafale’s equipment, notably the Thales

Areos advanced digital reconnaisance pod (known as Reco-NG in France); the Thales Damocles laser designation pod; and the Sagem AASM 250-kg INS-guid-ed rocket bomb.➤ Thales Areos: “See, Decide, Act” is just the basic operational process that armed forces need to control during war operations, just as in Libya, where the risk of civilian collateral damage is pres-ent. A timely day/night image intelligence (IMINT) is required to feed correct infor-mation into the observe, orient, decide and act (OODA) decision cycle, and it needs a full IMINT system rather than a puzzle of isolated equipment specified on stand alone performance criteria.

The Thales Reco-NG (or Areos for export, Airborne REconnaissance Obser-vation System) is a 2,000-pound digital recce pod designed to be adaptable to any modern tactical fighter. According to Thales, it meets the full spectrum of oper-ational requirements in a broad range of scenarios and weather conditions because it integrates digital technology, both in the sensor/detector solutions and the real time/non-real time transmission capabil-ity. It is also interoperable with other allied nations using STANAG 7023 and 4545 for imagery, and STANAG 7085 for tactical datas.

Operational on the Rafale since last December, and after a long debugging trial period, the French recce nacelle now used over the Libyan theatre boasts sophisticated operational automatic imagery collection modes. It is particu-larly suited to single-seat aircraft, a fact which was validated when the system was first deployed over Afghanistan by the French navy last December.

Reco-NG/Areos serial production was launched by the French Ministry of Defense in 2005 — for both the air force and navy — in order to replace the dedicated Mirage F1CRs of the French air force and the Super-Étendards of the French navy.

To date 10 pods have been delivered by Thales to the French amed forces. A total of 20 pods are on order to equip the air force (12) and the navy (8) with delivery

Combat

to be completed by the end of next year. Two were ordered by DGA in 2009, six in 2010, six in 2011, and six will be ordered next year. According to DGA, Areos provides day identification capabilities that are two-and-a-half times better than those of the Mirage F1CR’s Presto “wet-film” system and 8 times better than those of the legacy SDS250 photo pod of the Super-Étendard. Some 20 French pilots have been qualified on the Reco-NG sys-tem so far.

Reco-NG/Areos has been designed to cope with the most stringent require-ments by coalition and NATO forces today, from low level, high speed to medium and high level/long “stand off” imagery collection in a single pod.

Among its key features are digital ele-ments which increase day/night IMINT collection capabilities at long stand-off and short ranges; shorten the intelligence cycle and the operational tempo from hours to a few minutes with a very accu-rate target location capability; increase intelligence timeliness in the theater; increase flexibility in the operational use of IMINT collection systems to adapt to changes in weather conditions or tactical threats changes during the mission; and ensure operational/technical interopera-bility through technical standards agreed within the international community.

The Reco-NG/Areos pod performanc-es are based on two day/night sensors. One sensor for short, medium and long collection ranges (Dual Band Sensor DB-STARS, band 2) is integrated in the front section and one sensor for low level/high speed imagery (Infra Red Line Scanner band 3) is integrated in the rear section.

The DB-STARS collects imagery on large areas with the wide field-of-view sensors, day and night, and can also acquire very high resolution imagery with

The long focal lens of the Areos (Reco-NG) digital reconnaissance pod provides several gigabytes of high-definition imag-esthat can be transmitted during flight.

Pho

to/J

ean-M

ichel G

uhl


the narrow fields of view. It includes a video mode to “turn around” selected targets and improve their 3-D rendition on screen.

The images processing tools on board the Reco-NG nacelle include a user inter-face that is optimized for a single-seat platform, the pilot receiving proof of the pictures snapped by the aircraft directly in his cockpit head-down display. Using a specific encrypted radio data link capac-ity, information can then be selected, transmitted and exploited in real time.

Finally the IRLS is used to collect in the same time high resolution imagery on those selected locations mainly based on the detection of activity or environment aspects in the infrared spectrum.

The present Reco-NG/Areos data link architecture has been designed to offer a real-time and non-real-time image transmission capability at Line of Sight ranges with a 360° coverage, thanks to the two antennas on the pod extremeties. The specific hybrid duplex architecture integrates two datalinks, one for the link quality management, one for the imagery downlinking.

For the post-mission phase, the French armed forces use SAIM-NG/MINDS, a Multisensor Multispectral Image Exploitation System, which is the main tool for the French intelligence officer. Designated SAIM-NG, Mobile Multisensor Image Exploitation Ground System “Nouvelle Génération,” it uses near real-time acquisition units, very large data base management, data pro-cessing, including fusion and decision aiding tools, and communication net-works. The SAIM/SAIM-NG system is operational in the French air force, navy and army. Initially defined for the specific use of manned reconnaissance sensors, SAIM is now more and more used for the exploitation of UAV and battle field MTI and SAR surveillance systems.➤ Thales Damocles: Delivered just in time for the air operations in Libya, the Damocles targeting pod, designed by Thales, is an updated variant of the

Damocles nacelle used on the Mirage 2000-9, the Super-Étendard Modernisé, the Sukhoi 30MKM, the Tornado IDS and the Mirage F1M. It is a multi-func-tion, 525-pound targeting pod compatible with existing and future weapons systems. It is comparable to the Lockheed Martin Sniper AN/AAQ-33 or the Northrop Grumman Litening AN/AAQ-28(V). Equipped with an eye-safe laser range-finder, it is fully operational in all weather conditions, on all sorts of theatres and benefits from a modular design for future upgrade, according to Thales. If the first 10 nacelles were purchased in 2010 under a “crash program,” some 20 more are on order to equip the Armée de l’Air and the Aéronavale’s Rafales.

Main feature of the Damocles is an advanced STANAG 3733-compatible technology nacelle featuring a staring array detector in the spectral band 3 to 5 μm, robust tracking systems, image pro-cessing and 3-D location and laser spot detection. Its powerful laser and high res-olution imagery provide the Rafale with a long stand-off range and fair tactical ground/air defence system survivability.

Its main functions are for air-to-ground strike and reconnaissance, but it can also be used for air-to-air optical surveillance and day/night visual air-borne target identification. Damocles is compatible with laser guided weapons, INS/GPS guided missiles and imagery-guided weapons and allows attacks in autonomous or cooperative mode, using an integrated laser spot tracker. Its high

www.cmcelectronics.ca

IntegriFlight® SBAS/WAAS GPS Receiver

Worldwide primary means navigation

On the Button Accuracy

The Thales Damocles targeting pod, pictured here installed under the star-board air intake of a Rafale, provides a long stand-off range and fair tactical ground/air defence system survivability.

Pho

to/J

ean-M

ichel G

uhl


ADVERTISING SALES REPSTish Drake

Publisher/East Coast Sales

T: 800-325-0156

E-mail:

[email protected]

Susan Joyce

West Coast/

International Sales Manager

T: 480-607-5040

Cell: 303-641-5505

E-mail:

[email protected]

laser energy and high resolution laser imagery provides long secu-rity range and high level of surv-ability. It can be used for battle damage assessment at long range and includes target recognition capability, 3-D localisation and integrated navigation FLIR.

Thirty Rafale F3s have been retroftted with the Thales NextW@ve TRA 6034 VHF/UHF secure radios. The SDR-architected radio covers 30 to 600 MHz for full joint/combined operations. It supports voice, data (EPM 250 kbits/s) and imagery. These radios are used in conjuc-tion with the L3 Rover video sys-tem required by CAS operations in Afghanistan. Compatible with current NATO and national standards, the radio is claimed to meet the dual challenges of enhanced interoperability across the VHF/UHF spectrum and the new requirements of Network Centric Warfare. ➤ Sagem AASM: In the face of wretched Libyan Air Force aerial operations, most of the aircraft destroyed by French military aircraft so far have been pinned on the ground with bombs, specifically

the AASM, a stand-off precision guided munition (PGM) system using both GPS and inertial guidance. Developers said it fills the capability gap between laser-guided bombs — with limited range and requiring continuous laser illumination towards the target — and more expensive cruise missiles that provide longer range.

A new French smart weapon used for the very first time in Afghanistan in 2007, the AASM is also designated Smart

Bomb Unit SBU-38 Hammer by NATO.

“For us, the SBU-38 Ham-mer is primarily an exceptional all-weather precision guided munition. Secondly, it is a fantastic tool to strike several targets in a single pass,” said a French commandant com-manding the third “escadrille” (Br 66) of the Saint-Dizier-based EC 1/91 “Gascogne.”

“The major advantage we now have with this French-designed PGM is that it is both a powered and a manœu-vrable bomb. We can launch it in a clearly stand-off mode and completely off-boresight. On top of that, we can attack

static targets with extreme final precision, thanks to the precise coordinates of their last position we now get on our ATO (air-task order) or in-flight through Link 16 via the pre-strike recce information we obtain from our Rafale colleagues that use the Reco-NG pod. This in pure tradi-tional sensor-to-shooter mode, under day or night conditions. And this represents really a big advantage when we need to strike time sensitive ground targets.”

Antennas &Static

Dischargers

Dayton-Granger manufactures a

complete line of top quality

aircraft antennas and static

dischargers for military,

airline, business and general

aviation aircraft.

When you want top performance and long,

trouble free service life, rely on the

industry leader, DAYTON-GRANGER.

Tel: (954) 463-3451

Fax: (954) 761-3172

www.daytongranger.com

[email protected]

Antennas &Static

Dischargers

Pho

to c

ourt

esy D

GA

The Sagem AASM, shown here during an April launch test of the laser-guided variant, is the third version of the baseline SBU-38 AASM.


industry

ADS-B Equipage

With the 2020 deadline looming, operators must examine regulatory and

integration hurdles to equipping their aircraft with the technology

By Dr. Ingrid D. Knox

It has been said that those of us who fly within the United States enjoy what is certainly the safest and most accessible airspace system in the world. At the same time, it can be said that the U.S.

National Airspace System (NAS) is one of the most congested and jam-packed systems in the world. The solution is the Next Generation Air Transportation Sys-tem (NextGen).

A critical component of NextGen is Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), which combines an aircraft’s positioning source, aircraft avionics and a ground infrastructure to create an accurate surveillance interface between aircraft and air traffic control. The satellite-derived aircraft location

system will enhance air traffic controllers’ ability to identify and guide aircraft and can provide coverage in areas where radar is not possible, such as Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. One of the main advan-tages of ADS-B is pilots can benefit from weather and enhanced traffic information the technology brings to the cockpit. It is expected that by 2013, ADS-B coverage will stretch nationwide.

Evidence has shown that ADS-B can be more timely and accurate when com-pared with now-available, conventional surveillance radar systems, which are lim-ited by line-of-sight geometry problems, which stem from mountains and other large obstacles. The more accurate infor-mation for controllers and pilots is due to GPS usage as an ADS-B position source

for the aircraft.In ADS-B Out, ADS-B-equipped

aircraft are able to broadcast velocity, altitude, identification and position to other aircraft and to the air traffic con-trol. When an aircraft or vehicle receives ADS-B data, the process is known as ADS-B In.

By 2020, all aircraft operating within designated ADS-B airspace will be required to comply with the equipment performance requirement of ADS-B Out, as defined in Title 14 of the Code of Fed-eral Regulations (14 CFR) section 91.225 (14 CFR 91.225).

Advisory Circular (AC) 20-165, which was issued in May 2010, provides guid-ance for the installation and airworthi-ness approval of the ADS-B Out system


in aircraft. An AC is not mandatory and is not a regulation. AC 20-165 “describes an acceptable means, but not the only means, to install ADS-B Out equipment. However, if you use the means described in this AC, you must follow it entirely,” according to the circular.

The AC covers installation of ADS-B equipment, updates to the flight manual, updates to instructions for continued airworthiness, guidance for interfacing systems, ground test and flight test.

ADS-B equipment must meet the requirements specified in Technical Standard Order (TSO) C166b , for 1090 MHz Extended Squitter transponder, or TSO-154c, for 978 MHz Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) . System com-ponents for ADS-B Out functionality are described as the ADS-B equipment, a position source, a barometric altitude source, an air-ground status source, a TCAS II source if the aircraft is so equipped, an optional heading source and associated antennas and displays.

Also, it describes the approval process, necessary documentation, ADS-B system installation guidance, and test and evalu-ation. Also, it provides message element descriptions, identifying ADS-B position sources, latency analysis, airplane flight manual supplement (AFMS) examples and related documents.

System ApproachThe federal regulations and advisory circulars outline specific operational requirements for ADS-B, but there are other questions an airline must consider before equipping their fleet.

The installation of an ADS-B system should be rule complaint. The approval requires a “system approach.” A supple-mental type certificate (STC) should identify each interfacing system such as ADS-B equipment, antenna, heading, position velocity, baro altitude, pilot input, traffic collision and avoidance system (TCAS) status and air/ground status. The ground and flight tests can be

required and flight data can be reused in applicable follow-on installation, which could be stated in the AFM/AFMS. The ADS-B Out system should be shown to meet the equipment requirements of 14 CFR 91.225. All aircraft are required to automatically determine air ground sta-tus. Flight test will be required. The flight test profile is outlined in AC 20-165.

The primary purpose of flight in National Airspace Authority ADS-B service volume is to ensure compatibility and validity. Post flight data analysis will need to be accomplished. A federal government authority may provide flight data recorded by ground system upon request. AC 20-165 provides guidance on requesting flight data from the approving authority. The applicant should ensure data is consistent with the actual flight.

ADS-B is not yet a replacement for transponder or ground-based radar. Common knowledge is that numerous radar sites are slated for de-commission-ing, such as primary radars. Several of the secondary radars may remain func-tional as a backup due to a possible GPS outage.

Rules to remember while complying with the requirements depends on circum-stances you will be encountering, such as what, how, and where you fly, budgetary constraints, and other factors.

Traffic Information Services-Broad-cast (TIS-B), the service provided when ADS-B ground radio stations broadcast traffic information obtained from ATC radar, will not relieve pilots of the respon-sibility to obtain an official preflight briefing, to see and avoid other aircraft, and to gain complete information for intended flight. TIS-B provides a more complete traffic picture in situations when not all aircraft are equipped with ADS-B for pilots flying aircraft equipped to receive and display ADS-B data.


Airspace Class Requirements

The FAA’s plan under NextGen is to require all aircraft operating within Classes A, B and C

airspace, and certain portions of Class E airspace, to install a transponder and subscribe to perfor-

mance standards for positional integrity and other associated criteria for ADS-B avionics.

➤ Class A Airspace Area: According to 14 CFR 91.225 after Jan. 1, 2020, and unless otherwise

authorized by ATC, no person may operate an aircraft in Class A airspace unless the aircraft has

equipment installed that meets the requirement in Technical Standard Order (TSO) TSO – C166b,

Extended Squitter ADS-B and Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) Equipment Operating on

the Radio Frequency of 1090 Megahertz (MHz) and meets the requirement of 14 CFR 91.227

After Jan. 1, 2020, unless otherwise authorized by ATC, no person may operate an aircraft

below 18,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) and in airspace described in 14 CFR 91.225. ADS-B

should meet the requirement in TSO-C166b or TSO-C154c, Universal Access Transceiver (UAT)

ADS-B equipment, operating on the frequency of 978 MHz, which meets the requirements of 14

CFR 91.227. Operators with equipment installed with an approved deviation under 14 CFR 21.618

also are in compliance with this section.

➤ Class B and Class C Airspace Areas: According to the regulation, after Jan. 1, 2020,

unless otherwise authorized by ATC, no person may operate an aircraft below 18,000 feet MSL

and in airspace described in 14 CFR 91.225. ADS-B should meet the requirement in TSO-C166b

or TSO-C154c, UAT ADS-B equipment operating on the frequency of 978 MHz above the ceiling

and within the lateral boundaries of a Class B or Class C airspace area designated for an airport

upward to 10,000 feet MSL.

➤ Class E Airspace Area: Class E airspace is within the 48 contiguous states and the District

of Columbia at and above 10,000 feet MSL, which excludes the airspace at and below 2,500 feet

above the surface, and at and above 3,000 feet MSL over the Gulf of Mexico from the coastline of

the United States out to 12 nautical miles.

➤ Exceptions: The requirements of 14 CFR 91.225 do not apply to any aircraft that was not

originally certificated with an electrical system or that has not subsequently been certified with

such a system installed, including balloons and gliders. These aircraft may conduct operations

without ADS-B Out in the airspace for 30 nautical miles of an airport listed in 91.225 Appendix D,

section 1, from the surface upward to 10,000 feet MSL. This covers Class E airspace within the

48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia at and above 10,000 feet MSL, excluding the

airspace at and below 2,500 feet above the surface.

ADS-B Out probably will not allow instrument approach minima at smaller airports to lower because these minima are more dependent on obstacle and terrain clearance rather than surveillance cover-age. However, ADS-B could give control-lers additional flexibility meaning clearing aircraft from instrument approach at non-towered airports, which could identify outbound Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) aircraft at lower altitudes possibly all the way to the ground.

Currently there is no fee to receive the ADS-B In services. Aircraft owners and operators will need equipment to visually display the data, such as the multifunction display and the moving-map GPS receiver. The operators must meet prescribed per-formance requirements to operate in the ADS-B designated airspace. At present, position sources such as GPS or wide area augmentation system (WAAS) are accept-able and meet the performance require-ments of ADS-B Out.

New technologies and avionics will be available to meet the ADS-B performance requirements by the 2020 mandate. As ground infrastructure moves forward by 2013, ADS-B is forecast to be available across the NAS everywhere there is radar coverage today. It’s not too early to start


understanding the technology and think-ing about how operators can benefit from its capabilities.

ADS-B EquipmentThe exchange of ADS-B information within the United States is done through a vehicle of ADS-B equipped aircraft gener-ally on one of two frequencies –– 1090 or 978 MHz.

The 978 Mhz/UAT link within the United States is a regional link, primar-ily used for Flight Information System-Broadcast (FIS-B) services, which trans-mits graphical weather data and other flight information for UAT-equipped aircraft. ADS-B extends the message element of Mode S with additional information about the aircraft and its position, a process known as extended squitter (ES). 1090MHz is linked to Mode A/C and S transponders and TCAS equipment. The 1090MHz is used by TCAS equipment by Mode A/C and S transponders (Mode A aircraft identify-code; Mode C altitude reporting; Mode S identify information assigned by a fed-eral government authority).

The ADS-B transceiver operating on either aforementioned link will do essen-tially the same function as the standard transponder but on an exponentially wider span of coverage. The differences are such that while a Mode C transponder provides ATC with position as detected by radar and pressure altitude, the ADS-B trans-ceiver emits the same information plus elements like aircraft’s type, velocity and geometric altitude, which can be used to develop more accurate depiction and indi-cation of position.

One of the primary advantages is that the ADS-B information will be available to any aircraft equipped to receive the information, so aircraft on like frequen-cies can see each other in terms of visibil-ity on compatible cockpit displays.

Translation is required to ensure the two links operate simultaneously. ADS-B ground-based radio stations process the messages received on each frequency, then send the messages back out again on the opposite frequency, which is known as the ADS-Rebroadcast (ADS-R). This process is how 1090ES and UAT users of the system can identify one another on traffic displays.

Because some business jets, turbo-props and most commercial airlines are required to have Mode S and TCAS installed, the federal government agency responsible for aviation industry oversight will expect these aircraft to

choose to equip with the 1090ES link for ADS-B. Also, some general aviation air-craft currently have digital transponders that can be upgraded to 1090ES. Future projections show general aviation aircraft typically characterized as smaller piston airplanes and light twins not required to have TCAS might determine a need for the equipment with the UAT avionics.

With additional input from Mary June Bruner.

Dr. Ingrid D. Knox is an adjunct assistant professor at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

Disclaimer: All the article information should be directed to your federal government agency responsible for avia-tion industry oversight counterpart that makes the final determination and approval decisions. The information is only as good as the information available during the time of the print. The latest requirements and regulations take precedence over the information provided. This informa-tion does not interpret requirements and is to be used as information only. It is not meant as a means of compliance or direction to show or find compliance to the regulatory requirements, orders, policies or procedures. The informa-tion is public knowledge and does not constitute directions to approval of the systems mentioned.

Tel: (949) 859-8800E-mail: [email protected]: www.holtic.com ISO 9001: 2008 Registered

For further information on these and other Holt products contact:

ARINC 429 Data Management IC

Supporting ARINC 825 (CAN)

HI-3200 Another First in Innovation from Holt Integrated Circuits

A STACK Certified Supplier


product focus

DATA Acquisition

By Ed McKenna

Changes to flight data safety systems typically come about slowly. They are the product of lengthy delib-erations by regulatory and

standards making bodies and industry. Even the data from the “black boxes” of Air France Flight 447 are not expected to spur any significant changes in the near future, according to experts.

However, under that placid surface, there is activity on a number of fronts as operators and regulators look at ways to use the growing wealth of data routinely acquired and stored on transport aircraft to boost safety and efficiency and meet new regulatory requirements.

The value of these safety systems and the data they acquire and store was underscored by “the amount of money and time spent to recover the record-ers” of Air France Flight 447, which disappeared into South Atlantic on June 1, 2009, said Armen Nahapetian, vice

president, aircraft data and informa-tion systems at Teledyne Controls, of El Segundo, Calif. Spearheaded by the BEA, the French accident investigation author-ity, the two-year search for the wreckage of the Airbus A330-200 and its flight recorder involved the use of a battery of advanced technology to conduct above and underwater search efforts in the South Atlantic. (The flight data recorders were recovered in May.)

As part of that effort, BEA created a multinational Flight Data Recovery Working Group. Composed of govern-ment and industry members, the group recommended, among other items, the regular transmission of basic aircraft parameters possibly using Aircraft Com-munications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) and the “triggered transmission of flight data” via satellite in the case of an impending catastrophic event.

The latter sparked an immediate uptick in interest in the Automated Flight

Information Reporting System (AFIRS) from AeroMechanical Services, said Matt Bradley, the Calgary, Canada-based company’s vice president of operations. AFIRS can be used with the company’s FLYHTStream system to provide real-time streaming of emergency data, such as position and equipment status reports and flight data recorder information via the Iridium network. It can be manually triggered by the flight crew or ground support personnel or automatically triggered based on a set of pre-defined parameters, according to the company.

Currently installed on about 220 air-craft worldwide, the AFIRS hardware is being used by about 25 to 30 different operators including military, commercial charter and international regional carri-ers, Bradley said. The company expects demand for the real-time data services to come initially from business jet com-munity. Hawker Beechcraft already offers AFIRS on its Hawker 125 series business, and the technology has been flying on a

Operators and regulators are

looking at new ways to utilize

the growing banks of data

that are acquired and

stored on aircraft

Teledyne Controls’ data acqusition units include built-in recording functions, Ethernet capability for connectivity and enhanced aircraft condition monitoring functions. P

ho

to c

ourt

esy T

ele

dyne C

ontr

ols


trial basis on Netjets for the last year and a half, Bradley said.

Despite this interest, these types of systems are a long way from being man-dated for use on aircraft, said Alexis Lossky, advanced acquisition technol-ogy and business opportunities director at Teledyne. Now, the recommenda-tions from the working group are going through an ICAO review process, which will likely take years to complete, accord-ing to Lossky. There are several issues that need to be addressed including con-cerns about nuisance alarms and ques-tions about satellite connectivity during dangerous events, he said. Then, there is the question of who would have to pay for the antennas and related support sys-tems, which also would add weight to the aircraft.

Lossky, who attended the working group meetings, said however some steps were being taken noting that “Air France has started implementing, using equip-ment that is already onboard the aircraft, a very simple system to detect if an air-craft is below a certain altitude in cruise mode” and, in that case, “send position information instead of every 15 or 20 minutes, every minute.”

As the ICAO begins to explore the working group’s recommendations, the industry is implementing changes man-dated last year by FAA in its “Revisions to the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Digi-tal Flight Data Recorder Regulations.” This proposal, responding to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations, took almost a decade to work its way through the regulatory process despite being put on “the fast track” when proposed by FAA in 2002, said Thomas Schmutz, vice president of engineering with L-3 Communications‚ Aviation Recorders division in Sarasota, Fla.

Specifically, the rule included a man-date to record data link communications on newly installed equipment, make precautionary wiring changes and add a 10-minute independent power source for the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). It also provided new requirements regarding the CVR location and housing, while increas-ing the duration of digital flight data recorder (DFDR) recording and CVR recording and upping the sampling rates for certain DFDR parameters.

“We were and ready for this rule with recorders that would provide the appro-priate duration of recording, and we also provided a recorder power solution,” said Schmutz. When compared with the scope

of the BEA working group proposals, he added, “these are pretty subtle and minor things, yet they (still) took nine years” to implement.

Meanwhile, the last major change in this segment of the industry was the AEEC adoption of ARINC 767 for the Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) about five years ago. Initially deployed on the Boeing 787, the GE Aviation-built EAFR combines any or all functions of a DFDR, CVR, data link and image recorders in a single line replaceable unit. It is connected to the 787’s Common Data Network, an Avi-onics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX) network backbone, enabling connection of sensors and avionics units with the flight data recorders.

The EAFR gives operators a leg-up when adopting changes, such as those mandated by FAA, said Piet Ephraim, marketing manager at GE Aviation. Unlike an ARINC 717-compliant system, which is “a tightly integrated system” that relies on a standalone flight data acquisi-tion unit (FDAU) to collect and send the data, the EAFR can be changed to meet new regulations without “any other impact on the aircraft” because FDAU is in the recorder itself. Ephraim expects

this capability to become a larger asset as FAA presses industry to collect more and more safety data for the NTSB.

To date, however, the Boeing 787 is the only aircraft to have deployed the EAFR. Going forward, it is unlikely the system will be deployed on existing platforms. “It is really more suitable to new aircraft with network architecture,” said Ephraim. GE Aviation is supplying the flight recorder system for the new Chinese narrow body, the COMAC C919, he said. “It has a network architecture (and) an onboard maintenance system from GE which will make use of these wireless technologies.”

Regardless of the system used, the number of parameters recorded on board aircraft has grown into the thousands. With the new computer-centric systems, “it is a lot easier to go in and get the data, put it on a bus and feed it into the acqui-sition system,” said William Brankin, director, business development, L-3 Com-munications, Aviation Recorders division. As a result, the systems can record as many as 3,000 parameters in some air-craft. “In 1965 I think we were recording five,” said Brankin.

While the safety function remains paramount, the systems are increasingly being used to monitor maintenance and

Market Moves

Following are recent announcements by manufacturers of data acquisition systems.

➤ Teledyne Controls in October announced an agreement with Boeing to supply its Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit (DFDAU) for Boeing’s Airplane Health Management system for the Next Generation 737.

Teledyne’s DFDAU, which combines functions of mandatory data acquisition and recording with an Aircraft Condition Monitoring System (ACMS), is hosting a set of custom ACMS applica-tions designed to acquire and output data into Boeing’s ground analysis tools, according to Teledyne.

Also in October, Teledyne said it would provide its Flight Data Interface Management Unit (FDIMU) for Uzbekistan Airways on its new Airbus A320s. Uzbekistan Airways will use Teledyne’s FDIMU to perform flight data acquisition, aircraft condition monitoring and data recording to reinforce its flight data monitoring program. The FDIMU is installed on nearly 75 percent of all delivered Airbus single aisle and long range aircraft, Teledyne said. ➤ NORTH Flight Data Systems, based in Arlington, Texas, announced plans in October to acquire the Flight Data System product line from OuterLink of Lowell, Mass.

The Flight Data System product line acquisition includes the OuterLink Voice & Video Recorder, CV2R recorder and the Multifunction Data Acquisition Unit with the Quick Access Recorder. Included in the purchase is the Safety Matrix Analysis Reporting Threshold (SMART) software that performs real-time data analysis on-board the aircraft and transmits customer defined event data messages via a satcom link. ➤ Ampex Data Systems, Redwood City, Calif., in August was selected to provide the airborne and ground data acquisition systems for the Airborne Infrared Countermeasure Evaluation System pod upgrade to the Naval Air Warfare Weapons Center Weapons Division at Point Mugu, Calif.

The airborne data acquisition system is a component of the Next Generation Airborne Turret Infrared Measurement System (ATIMS) to record multiple channels of standard and high-defi-nition video and high-speed serial and aircraft bus data. Ampex will provide a set of four miniR 700 solid-state recorder systems to capture the full spectrum of infrared data measured by the pod. The company also will supply companion DSRs 720 ground systems to support post-mis-sion download, analysis and archive operations. Based on a ruggedized COTS chassis, the DSRs 720 can be configured to support both local and network data dissemination operations.


Companies

ACRA Control ................................................... www.acracontrol.com

ACSS ........................................................................www.acss.com

AeroMechanical Services Ltd. ...................................... www.flyht.com

AgiLynx, Inc. ............................................................www.agilynx.com

AIM ....................................................................www.aim-online.com

Alta Data Technologies ...............................................www.altadt.com

Ampex Data Systems ..............................................www.ampex.com

Avionica Inc. ..........................................................www.avionica.com

Cubic Corp. ..............................................................www.cubic.com

Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc. ................................www.cwcontrols.com

ENSCO ....................................................................www.ensco.com

GE Intelligent Platforms ............................................... www.ge-ip.com

Goodrich ..............................................................www.goodrich.com

Honeywell .......................................................... www.honeywell.com

IMS Company ..................................................... www.imsco-us.com

L-3 Communications .............................................. www.l-3com.com

KineticSystems ........................................................www.kscorp.com

Meggitt Avionics ......................................www.meggitt-avionics.co.uk

Moritz Aerospace ............................................... www.moritzaero.com

North Atlantic Industries ................................................. www.naii.com

North Flight Data Systems ......................................www.northfds.com

Pentek ....................................................................www.pentek.com

Pickering Interfaces ......................................... www.pickeringtest.com

Sagem Avionics Inc ......................................www.sagemavionics.com

Speel Praha .................................................................. www.speel.cz

TechSAT ................................................................www.techsat.com

Teledyne Controls .................................... www.teledyne-controls.com

Teletronics Technology Corp. .....................................www.ttcdas.com

Thales ............................................................. www.thalesgroup.com

Universal Avionics Systems Corp ...............www.universalavionics.com

Universal Weather & Aviation .................................www.univ-wea.com

VTI Instruments ..............................................www.vtiinstruments.com

Zodiac Data Systems ...............................................www.zds-us.com

a growing number of aircraft opera-tions. “The amount of monitor-ing that is being done has grown significantly,” and the amount of data recorded for maintenance has probably doubled during the past few years, said Nahapetian. “For day-to-day functions, this has become more important than the basic (safety) functions, but once an accident occurs that overshadows everything else.”

“We are looking at the main-tenance community as a user of the information,” said Ephraim. “When you look at these network aircraft with huge amounts of data, it does give you the ability to keep track of the pulse of the aircraft and pretty much keep track of wherever it is in the world.”

That level of monitoring can boost safety and give the operator “the oppor-tunity to monitor or manage health of aircraft,” Ephraim said.

“[Maintaining] airplane health is where operators are finding return on investment for the systems,” said Bradley. This means monitoring such parameters as engine trending and exceedences. For example, Caribbean regional carrier Liat was able to use the flight system data from AFIRS to reduce “the number of ITT over temps, over speeds and over torques of its Pratt & Whitney engines, and as a result its engines on wing time had gone up to 8,000 instead of 3,500 (cycles),” he said. This meant that the car-rier could waive the routine hot engine inspection at 3,500 cycles and save $18 million in five years.

Access to this flight data also can allow operators “to manage scheduling

of the aircraft, making sure that (they) are dispatched

on time and get people to where they want to go on time, and possibly improve the way the air space is used,” Ephraim said.

“We make a data acquisition unit that monitors the hardness of landings,” said Schmutz. It is targeted at fractional own-ership aircraft and configured to identify who is using the aircraft and when so costs can be reclaimed, he said.

Along with maintenance, the systems are being increasingly used to monitor fuel use.

The systems are also being used to monitor CO2 use. It is an issue that is picking up momentum and is becoming an especially pressing issue for airlines operating into Europe, which will begin imposing limits on carbon emissions next year, officials said.

Looking ahead, changes are expected to be completed to the EUROCAE ED-112 (Minimum Operational Perfor-mance Specification for Crash Protected Airborne Recorder Systems). The chang-

es are likely to include a call for addition-al parameters for the flight recorder and provide additional definition of data link uses and look at deployable recorders.

Meanwhile, the question of the recording of images remains controver-sial, although attitudes have changed with Air France and other high-profile accidents, Ephraim said. One of the cur-rent recommended changes for ICAO 6.1, which deals with recording systems, does include image recording and that will work its way through regulation system and may come on the books sometime next year as a rule, Ephraim said. If it does, it will be “effective on planes pro-duced after 2020,” he said.

“It seems like a long way off, but in this long cycle industry … it really means that to make those things happen you’ve got to start working on them (early),” he said. “Our EAFR already has provisions for image recording.”

Next month: Payloads

Avionics Magazine’s Product Focus is a monthly feature that examines some of the latest trends in different market segments of the avionics industry. It does not represent a comprehensive survey of all companies and products in these markets. Avionics Product Focus Editor Ed McKenna can be contacted at [email protected].

�

�

�

�

�

�

L-3 Aviation Recorders in February received FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO) for its Lightweight Data Recorder, Model LDR 1000, left. The company at the time said it was the first company to receive TSO-C197 approval for a lightweight recorder product.

Pho

to c

ourt

esy L

-3 A

via

tio

n R

eco

rders

AVIONICS FOR NEXTGEN will bring together leaders in the

aviation community to discuss the six component programs of

NextGen Implementation.

Conference sessions include:

� Enabling Collaborative ATM Technologies (CATM-T)

� Analog to Digital: Implementing Data Communications

� FAA’s “Internet”: System Wide Information Management

(SWIM)

� Networking Voices: NAS Voice Switch

� Weather in the Cockpit: NextGen Network Enables Weather

(NNEW)

� Equipping for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-

Broadcast (ADS-B)

Register today with VIP Code: AVIONICS to

qualify for Early Bird pricing!

N E X T G E NFO

R

www.AvionicsforNextGen.com 19005

Announcing the

Keynote Speaker

Wilson Felder

Director, William J. Hughes

Technical Center

Federal Aviation

Administration

T h e Te c h n o l o g i e s D r i v i n g t h e Fu t u r e o f Av i a t i o n


new products

Distribution AgreementAviation Partners Group (APG), based in Punta Gorda, Fla., signed a distributor agreement with Mid-Continent Instru-ments, of Wichita, Kan., under which APG will become a distributor of Mid-Continent products, including airspeed indicators, altimeters, autopilot compo-nents, engine instruments and batteries and power supplies.

Visit www.apgavionics.com.

Software ToolEmbvue, of Montreal, introduced Gen-erator-RTC (Generator Requirements and Test Cases), the first of its Generator software tools for electronic systems, sub-systems or software modules.

Generator-RTC is the front-end to the Generator tool suite which through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) provides customers with a formalized mechanism to specify unambiguous and sanitized requirements. Having created a set of unambiguous formal requirements using Generator-RTC, the customer can then automatically generate 100 percent of all required test cases for those requirements in minutes, according to the company.

Visit www.embvue.com.

UAS AutopilotMicroPilot, of Stony Mountain, Manitoba, introduced the MP21283X, an autopilot system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

According to the company, the sys-tem is designed to avoid sudden control outputs that could cause the UAV to strike the ground during maneuvers. In addition, the MP21283X synchronizes data, settings and waypoints among all three autopilots, ensuring the aircraft has enough information to continue its mis-sion in the event of a failure.

The MP21283X provides eight input/output ports and two RS232 serial ports for ground control communication via radio modems. It includes provisions for multiple communications links, back-up high current drivers, back-up power sup-plies and independently generated servo signals. Visit www.micropilot.com.

Mobile AppSkyTrac Systems, of Kelowna, British Columbia, launched SkyWeb Mobile for iPhone, Blackberry and Android. The mobile application displays current posi-tion and flight data for aircraft equipped with SkyTrac’s hardware. The application allows the user to control bandwidth demands when operating on mobile net-works, and enables one-touch voice dial and e-mail. Visit www.skytrac.ca.

Sensor ApprovalEsterline CMC Electronics’ SureSight CMA-2600 I-Series Integrated Sensor System has been FAA approved for use as an Enhanced Flight Vision System

on the Dassault Falcon 7X. The FAA approval follows a similar approval from EASA in 2010. The one line replaceable unit CMA-2600 system weighs less than 20 pounds, operates in a temperature range of -55°C to +50°C and offers a 30-degree field of view, according to the company.

Visit www.esterline.com.

Helicopter MFDJet Avionics, of Saõ Paulo, Brazil, received a Brazilian Certificação de Homologação Supplementar de Tipo (CHST) from the country’s aviation authority to install EX600 Multi-Func-tion Display (MFD) from Avidyne, of Lincoln, Mass., into the Agusta A109S.

The Brazilian CHST — comparable to a FAA Supplemental Type Certificate — provides a basis for installations of the EX600 MFD in the A109S in Brazil. Avidyne previously received approval in Brazil of the EX600 on more than 350 fixed-wing aircraft models as part of an Approved Model List CHST.

The EX600 incorporates a 5.8-inch diagonal, 640x480 pixel display. It includes an easy-to-use pilot interface, Map Panning keys and QuickPan func-tion, according to the company.

Visit www.avidyne.com.

Fan Controllers

Curtiss-Wright Controls Electronic Sys-tems introduced a family of Hybricon rugged intelligent fan controllers for chassis management. These Mil-Std-461F, Mil-Std-810G and Mil-Std-704F fan controllers provide intelligent nodes for use in PMBus-based chassis manage-ment systems, enabling system designers to quickly and easily integrate system fan monitor and control functions into a Built-In-Test strategy for rugged air- and conduction-cooled systems, according to the company.

The fan controllers are provided in

CAN Transceiver

Holt Integrated Circuits, based in Mis-sion Viejo, Calif., introduced HI-3000, an ARINC 825/ISO 11898-5 compliant Con-troller Area Network (CAN) transceiver for the avionics market. The rugged design is short circuit protected to +/- 58V on the bus lines and is capable of operating in the temperature range -55°C to +125°C.

The HI-3000 supports two modes of operation — normal and standby. The standby mode is a very low-current mode, which continues to monitor bus activity, allowing the external controller to manage wake-up. In addition, the HI-3000 provides

a SPLIT pin to give an output reference voltage of VDD/2, which can be used for stabilizing the recessive bus level when the split termination technique is used to terminate the bus.

The device also features a TXD dominant time-out feature to protect the bus from being driven into a permanent dominant state if the TXD pin becomes per-manently low due to application failure, the company said. Visit www.holtic.com.

both Pulse Width Modulation control and voltage regulated controller configu-rations. These rugged fan controllers can be used as part of a PMBus chassis man-agement system to monitor and control various chassis level elements, such as power supplies, fans, displays, front panel controls and indicators.

Visit www.cwcelectronicsystems.com.

Mini-PCIe Board

Data Device Corp. (DDC), of Bohemia, N.Y., introduced a Mil-Std-1553 Mini-PCIe board allowing a dual redundant Mil-Std-1553 channel to be added to any small embedded system, rugged laptop or rugged tablet computer, providing a cost effective, light weight, small size, rugged and reliable Mil-Std-1553 bus interface, according to the company.

The Mini-PCI-e BU-65586H1 board can save users months of design and qualification efforts by providing a quick, cost effective way to add Mil-Std-1553 to applications that don’t have slots, like PMC or PC/104-Plus. The small board offers a dual redundant 1553 channel in a proven and reliable package. The board connects Mil-Std-1553 to a PCI-e x1 lane bus via an edge connector for ease of use in systems with a Mini-PCIe slot.

Visit www.ddc-web.com.

Iridium CertificationInternational Communications Group’s (ICG) NxtLink ICS-400 communications system completed the Iridium Compatible Equipment Certification (ICE) testing. The certification allows for operation on the Iridium constellation and network.

The ICS-400 combines four Iridium channels with an internal cabin tele-communications unit (CTU). It can be integrated with conventional telephony devices, other satcom systems or legacy CTU systems through standard 2-Wire “Tip and Ring” circuits, 4-Wire audio connections or CEPT-E1 digital circuits. Standard CTU features include intercom calling, call transfer, conferencing, follow-

on dialing and voice prompts. Visit www.icg.aero.

Sales RepresentationBallard Technology, of Everett, Wash., named its sales representatives for various U.S. territories.

Sierra Sales, of Aurora, Colo., will rep-resent Ballard in Arizona, Colorado, New

Mexico and Utah, along with the El Paso, Texas, area.

Radiation Electronics, of Harrison, N.Y., will represent Ballard in Metro New York, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylva-nia.

RPI will represent Ballard Technol-ogy in upstate New York. RPI has offices in the Rochester/Buffalo, Syracuse and



new products

"7"Gd¦v"ri"Vhvvlrqv"dqg"H{klelwv$

"OLYH"Ghprqvwudwlrq"Duhdv"iru"Dlu/"Jurxqg"dqg"Pdulwlph"Yhklfohv

"Eurdg"Lqgxvwu¦"Uhsuhvhqwdwlrq"lq"Flylo/"Frpphufldo"dqg"Jryhuqphqw"Pdunhwv

"Wkh"ZruogÑv"Odujhvw"Jdwkhulqj""iru"wkh"Xqpdqqhg"V¦vwhpv"dqg""Urerwlfv"Frppxqlw¦

Binghamton areas.Panatek will represent Ballard Technol-

ogy in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Mis-souri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklaho-ma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Panatek has offices in Hoffman Estates, Ill., Eagan, Minn., and St. Louis, Mo.

Visit www.ballardtech.com.

Audio SystemBecker Avionics’ DVCS6100 Digital Audio System was selected by Mercy Flight, of Buffalo, N.Y., a provider of emergency air medical transport and sup-porting services, for integration into its-Bell 429 light-twin helicopter and one of its existing BK117 EMS helicopters.

The product offers up to eight com-munication transmit and up to eight receiver channels, an integrated warning tone generator, an amplifier for two cock-pit speakers, as well as interfaces for two Cockpit Voice Recorders and a Public Address Amplifier.

The main system components of the DVCS6100 are the Remote Electronic Unit 6100, the Audio Control Unit 6100 and the

optional Intercom Amplifier IC3100. Visit www.beckerusa.com.

ConnectorTE Connectivity, based in Harrisburg, Pa., introduced the Quadrax D-Sub style connector for military and commercial aerospace environments.

The company said the connector was created to meet the high-speed data rate needs in commercial avionics, aircraft data networks, in-flight entertainment systems and military communications applications. The rugged metal shell construction pro-vides four Quadrax connections in a size 3 shell with a 0.5-inch by 2-inch window, and supports both cable-to-cable and cable-to-board configurations. It serves as a low-profile alternative to the Circular 38999 Style Connectors. Visit www.te.com.

Signal GeneratorAeroflex Limited, based in Stevenage, U.K., added avionics waveforms to its S-Series signal generator family.

The Aeroflex SGA analog signal gener-ator with Option 6 adds internal generation

of waveforms required for testing avionics functions. The option includes waveforms for Instrument Landing Systems, VHF Omni-directional Radio, marker beacons and COM ID tones for airport identifica-tion. Visit www.aeroflex.com.

Sensor TestbedRockwell Collins and DRS Defense Solu-tions have been added to the list of com-panies with C4ISR products integrated into Lockheed Martin’s Airborne Multi-Intelligence Laboratory (AML), an intel-ligence, surveillance and reconnaissance test bed developed to help customers experiment with and validate how intel-ligence sensors and systems interact.

A modified Gulfstream III, the AML’s architecture allows various sensors and systems to be integrated into the aircraft with minimal development time, according to Lockheed Martin. This enables custom-ers to quickly evaluate sensors, combina-tions of sensors and tactics for employing sensors to develop capabilities to support a diverse range of contingency operations.

Visit www.lockheedmartin.com.

Pg Advertiser Web Address

ad index

C3 Association for Unmanned Vehicle

Systems International (AUVSI) ......................... http://symposium.auvsi.org

33 Astronautics Corp. of America ...............................www.astronautics.com

6 AUTOTESTCON 2011 ................................................ www.autotestcon.com

31 Avionics for NextGen ..................................www.AvionicsforNextGen.com

C4 Ballard Technology ........................................... www.ballardtech.com/mx5

9 Carlisle Interconnect/ECS ............................................ www.CarlisleIT.com

15 Composites Europe .....................................www.composites-europe.com

2 Data Device Corp. ........................................... www.ddc-web.com/TACE/A

23 Dayton-Granger, Inc. ........................................... www.daytongranger.com

22 Esterline CMC Electronics ....................................www.cmcelectronics.ca

11 Goodrich Corp. ............................................................. www.goodrich.com

27 Holt Integrated Circuits ...................................................... www.holtic.com

5 Honeywell ...........................................www.honeywell.com/Change71Now

19 RCTA 2011 Symposium .............................www.RCTA2011Symposium.com

13 Shadin Avionics ................................................................ www.shadin.com

26 StacoSystems ....................................................... www.stacosystems.com

7 Teledyne Controls ...................................... www.teledynecontrols.com/tse


"7"Gd¦v"ri"Vhvvlrqv"dqg"H{klelwv$

"OLYH"Ghprqvwudwlrq"Duhdv"iru"Dlu/"Jurxqg"dqg"Pdulwlph"Yhklfohv

"Eurdg"Lqgxvwu¦"Uhsuhvhqwdwlrq"lq"Flylo/"Frpphufldo"dqg"Jryhuqphqw"Pdunhwv

"Wkh"ZruogÑv"Odujhvw"Jdwkhulqj""iru"wkh"Xqpdqqhg"V¦vwhpv"dqg""Urerwlfv"Frppxqlw¦

30+ Countries RepresentedOver 450 Exhibiting Companies

More than 6,500 Attendees

Promoting and Supporting Unmanned

Systems and Robotics Across the Globe

symposium.auvsi.org

REGISTRATION

OPENNOWIS

36 Avionics Magazine June 2011 www.avionicstoday.com

Replace multiple embedded I/O cards . . .

The Avionics Databus InnovatorsAS9100 / ISO 9001 Registered www.ballardtech.com/mx5

Do more with less

High-Performance

Embedded Solutions

Mx5 avionics interface cards from Ballard Technology set the

new standard for performance and high channel counts. Simplify

your system, reduce SWaP (Size, Weight, and Power), and

lower your costs by consolidating all of your I/O into a single

expansion slot. Get the model that perfectly fits your system:

XMC or PMC, front or rear I/O, air or conduction cooled, and the

combination of protocols and channels you need on one card.

Ask us how you can do more with the Mx5...

Call 425-339-0281 or email [email protected] today.

+

MIL-STD-1553

. . . with ONE

+ + +

ARINC 429 ARINC 717 ARINC 708 DISCRETE

Learn more ¢

Mx5 at-a-glance

· Single or Multiple Protocols

· Up to 8 MIL-STD-1553 Channels

· Up to 22 ARINC 429 Channels



· Numerous Discrete I/O

· IRIG, BIT, and much more

New Mx5 Avionics Interface Cards

for XMC & PMC

DVaOz7aCxkqpkeuaHwnnaRi0kpff"""3 51914233"""7<67<78"RO

avionics 2011 07

Documents

avionics industry

avionics magazine issn

digital edition of avionics

new products

law enforcement aircraft

new product information

police mission equipment

new imaging processing