Smaller, lighter, more powerful
"The packaging is getting smaller, and we get more power and capability from these flight line test sets," he says. "The equipment is more versatile and adaptable to a wide variety of applications."
It is not out of the ordinary today to see flight-line test equipment small enough to fit in a backpack and operated by one or two people, rather than large enough to fit on several carts of rack-and-stack equipment with several different operators. "It is a one-man carry kind of equipment today," says Kevin Hurley, director of business development at Astronics/DME Corp in Orlando, Fla.
Among the enabling technologies for today's small, powerful flight-line test equipment are open-architectures in which test technicians can plug additional circuit cards into backplanes to add capability or functionality. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) also enable test technicians to make changes to their test equipment on the fly. "Computing power is advancing to get us more capability in a smaller package," says Paul Vavra, business development manager for flight line test solutions in the electronic combat solutions business unit of BAE Systems Electronic Solutions in Nashua, N.H.
Not only does use of COTS components in flight-line test equipment enhance capability and reduce size and weight, but it enables test equipment managers to attack costs, as well. Test equipment specialists at Data Device Corp. (DDC) in Bohemia, N.Y., are making broad use of USB data ports on their test equipment to enable test technicians to use laptop computers to test aircraft databuses, rather than expensive and dedicated test equipment.
"The USB port is on everything, and the USB protocol leverages the consumer marketplace and reduces costs of our manufacturing, which we can pass along to our customers," says George Los, product manager at DDC. "Our products for the test market also are FPGA-based, which involves a software load to add capability or functionality. It allows us to respond to the market quickly and gives us flexibility to develop new features and capability purely in FPGA."
Software-defined functionality
Today's flight-line test equipment also is making broad use of test functionality defined in software, rather than in hardware. At a generic level, this is similar to trends in advanced software-defined radio in which users program in desired functions in software that run on a generic computing architecture.
"Depending on the application, some of the flight-line test equipment is becoming more software defined," says AAI's Mensh. More functions defined in software also make the test equipment more flexible and reconfigurable. "We are only limited by an up- and down-converter on the kinds of signals we can handle," says Astronics/DME's Hurley.
Reconfigurable flight-line test equipment also means that more test routines can run on the same equipment, cutting down the need for large numbers of testers to handle different tasks. "We can configure waveforms electronically in software, and we don't need new testers," says BAE Systems's Vavra.
Generic test equipment
"What we really see happening in the defense marketplace is a need for commonality and compatibility in one piece of equipment," Vavra says. We provide the Stores systems Tester on the F-16 [jet fighter] that is designed to replace two pieces of equipment, and we want to go further."
BAE Systems provides bore-sighting test equipment for the F-16, and plans to adapt that equipment also to handle similar testing on the F-15 jet fighter-bomber. "We will have one piece of equipment for the F-16 and F-15, and with only different cables for each aircraft." Vavra says this trend will continue as the military services start to take over maintenance of unmanned aerial vehicles from the contractor personnel who do those tasks today.
Flight-line test companies
AAI Corp. Test Systems
Hunt Valley, Md.
410-666-1400
www.aaicorp.com
Aero Express Inc.
Lee's Summit, Mo.
816-246-4500
www.aeroexpress.com
Aeroflex Test Solutions
Wichita, Kan.
316-522-4981
www.aeroflex.com/ats
Agilent Technologies Inc.
Santa Clara, Calif.
408-345-8886
www.home.agilent.com
AIRCO Republic Electronics Inc.
Bohemia, N.Y.
631-244-2500
www.airco-international.com
Aircraft Instrument Support Services Inc.
Pflugerville, Texas
512-252-3031
www.aissinc.net
Astron Corp.
Irvine, Calif.
949-458-7277
www.astroncorp.com
Astronics DME Test Solutions
Orlando, Fla.
407-381-6062
www.astronics.com
Avionics Specialist Inc.
Memphis, Tenn.
901-362-9700
www.avionics-specialist.com
BAE Systems Electronic Solutions
Nashua, N.H.
603 885 4321
www.baesystems.com
Ballard Technology inc.
Everett, Wash.
425-339-0281
www.ballardtech.com
Barfield Inc.
Miami, Fla.
305-894-5300
www.barfieldinc.com
Bendix King by Honeywell
Morristown, N.J.
800-601-3099
https://commerce.honeywell.com
DAC International Inc.
Austin, Texas
512-331-5323
www.dacint.com
Data Device Corp. (DDC)
Bohemia, N.Y.
631-567-5700
www.ddc-web.com
Elbit Systems of America LLC
Merrimack, N.H.
603-889-2500
www.elbitsystems-us.com
Elcom Technologies Inc.
Rockleigh, N.J.
201-767-8030
www.elcom-tech.com
Gage Applied Technologies
Lockport, Ill.
514-633-7447
www.gage-applied.com
GE Intelligent Platforms
Charlottesville, Va.
434-978-5000
http://defense.ge-ip.com
Geotest - Marvin Test Systems Inc.
Irvine, Calif.
949-263-2222
www.geotestinc.com
Herley Industries Inc.
Lancaster, Pa.
717-397-2777
www.herley.com
Howell Instruments Inc.
Fort Worth, Texas
817-336-7411
www.howellinst.com
Keithley Instruments Inc.
Cleveland
440-248-0400
www.keithley.com
Lockheed Martin Corp. Global Training and Logistics
Orlando, Fla.
407-306-6800
www.lockheedmartin.com/gtl
National Instruments Corp.
Austin, Texas
800-531-5066
www.ni.com
Noisecom
Parsippany, N.J.
973-386-9696
http://noisecom.com
North Atlantic Industries
Bohemia, N.Y.
631-567-1100
www.naii.com
Sechan Electronics Inc.
Lititz, Pa.
717-627-4141
www.sechan.com
Symmetricom
San Jose, Calif.
888-367-7966
www.symmetricom.com
Tektronix Inc.
Beaverton, Ore.
800-833-9200
www.tek.com
Teradyne Inc.
North Reading, Mass.
978 370-2700
www.teradynedefenseaerospace.com
X-Com Systems LLC
Reston, Va.
703-390-1087
www.xcomsystems.com
