Northrop Grumman to supply 63 upgraded avionics mission computers for allied attack and utility helicopters
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – Avionics and flight computer experts at Northrop Grumman Corp. will provide 63 FlightPro Gen III scalable helicopter mission computers for U.S. allies under terms of a $20.4 million contract announced last week.
Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the Northrop Grumman Mission Systems segment in Woodland Hills, Calif., to 63 H-1 technical refresh mission computers for the AH-1Z attack helicopter and UH-1Y utility helicopter for Nigeria, the Czech Republic, and Bahrain.
The Northrop Grumman Gen III mission computers are at the heart of the company's integrated avionics system that powers the glass cockpit avionics of the Bell AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters.
The contract consists of 63 H-1 technical refresh mission computers (TRMCs) and 28 TRMC trays. 33 TRMCs and 28 trays will go to the Nigeria AH-1Z program; 25 TRMCs will go to the Czech Republic UH-1Y and AH-1Z programs; and five TRMCs will go to the Bahrain AH-1Z program. The U.S. Marine Corps is the primary U.S. military user of AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters.
Attack helicopters
The AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine attack helicopter based on the AH-1W SuperCobra that features a four-blade rotor system, uprated transmission, and a new target sighting system. It has upgraded avionics, weapons, and electro-optical sensors designed to find targets at long ranges and attack them with precision weapons.
The UH-1Y Venom helicopter -- also called the Super Huey -- is a twin-engined, medium-sized utility helicopter designed to replace the U.S. Marine Corps UH-1N Twin Huey light utility helicopters, first introduced in the early 1970s.
The conduction-cooled Gen III mission computer has a ruggedized 6U VME PowerPC-based single board computer. Interfaces include Fast Ethernet, four serial ports, parallel I/O, and built-in-test. It has a standard partitioned real-time operating system called INTEGRITY-178 tuMP for multicore architectures from Green Hills Software in Santa Barbara, Calif., with ARINC 653 and POSIX support.
The the AH-1Z and UH-1Y mission computer's standard configuration for avionics also includes a quad channel 1553 mezzanine card, high-speed serial card, digital I/O module with eight channels of opto-coupled discrete inputs, eight channels of opto-coupled discrete outputs, and 16 channels of general-purpose bi-directional discretes that can be programmed individually as embedded computing outputs or inputs.
The flight computers use 28-volt DC or 115-volt AC three-phase 400 Hz input power, measure 13.61 by 11.5 by 7.55 inches, and weigh 30.4 pounds. The computers have rated 3,200 hours mean time between failures.
The Gen III computer software is RTCA DO-178C compliant, has ARINC-653 partitioning for safety and security, and complies with the Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) standard. The software is aligned with the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) technical standard, has hardware-independent application software developed to MIL-STD-498, under MIL-STD-882C safety program environmental qualification.
Flight computer hardware is designed to MIL-STD-461D for electro-magnetic compatibility, and is tested to MIL-STD-462 and MIL-STD 810E. FlightPro is conduction cooled, and represents “Quiet Cockpit Technology,” Northrop Grumman officials say.
Integrated avionics
Dual mission computers are part of Northrop Grumman's integrated avionics aboard the AH-1Z and UH-1Y. The mission computers provide centralized control of the helicopter avionics, displays, situational awareness, and health monitoring.
Additionally, the helicopter avionics and mission computers can accommodate future system upgrades; rapid insertion of new technologies; and integration of other avionics, communications, and survivability equipment. Northrop Grumman also provides the operational flight program software that controls the AH-1Z and UH-1Y avionics.
On this order Northrop Grumman will do the work in Salt Lake City; Baltimore; and Woodland Hills, Calif., and should be finished by March 2029. For more information contact Northrop Grumman Mission Systems online at www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/business-sectors/mission-systems, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
