FORT WORTH, Texas, 22 Oct. 2012. The Airborne Solutions division of Elbit Systems of America LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd., won a $17.5 million contract from The Boeing Company to redesign and upgrade the Apache Block III AH-64D Mission Processor to provide performance and technology improvements, as well as to combat component obsolescence.
The attack helicopter’s technology refresh will be performed over five years.
The Block III Mission Processor provides an open-system computing architecture able to integrate with current and emerging next-generation technologies. The new Mission Processor features 48 processing cores (with support for up to 80 cores) for general-purpose processing, four graphics processors, enhanced video processing, and additional encoding/decoding capabilities.
The Mission Processor will infuse Apache Block III avionics and mission equipment with the ability to perform sophisticated networking and on-board computing tasks. It also enables the Apache Block III aircraft to accommodate emerging capabilities more easily; in fact, the new mission computer is developed with a system-of-systems approach to support the easy integration of new systems, sensors, applications, and electronics.
"The Elbit Systems of America Mission Processor lies at the heart of the Apache Block III Attack Helicopter and provides Boeing and its U.S. Army customer unparalleled computing power and capabilities,” says Elbit Systems of America President and CEO Raanan Horowitz. “The refresh and upgrade program will ensure the Apache takes advantage of the latest processing technology available.”
