Boeing chooses L-3 for telemetry test system for missile defense
Systems designers at the Boeing Co. needed test and integration equipment for the company's Ground-based Midcourse Defense Segment (GMDS) program, formerly known as the National Missile Defense program. The System 550 telemetry ground system from the Telemetry & Instrumentation enterprise of the L-3 Communications Telemetry-West in San Diego met their needs.
Under terms of the contract, the L-3 System 550 received substantial telemetry data acquisition and processing capabilities, including the ability to merge MIL-STD-1553, PCM telemetry, analog, digital, and raw sensor data into one interactive data stream, L-3 officials say.
Data from the System 550 will help Boeing experts make decisions on missile systems viability and performance.
The Boeing configuration of the System 550 "is among the most robust configurations we've ever built," says Doug Gibbs, L-3 Telemetry-West's program manager for the Boeing GMDS contract.
L-3 Communications Telemetry-West builds real-time commercial-off-the-shelf ground hardware and software for spacecraft command and control, satellite manufacturing and on-orbit operations, launch testing and monitoring, flight test, weapons test and development, and surveillance and detection.
For more information contact L-3 Telemetry-West on the World Wide Web at http://www.L-3Com.com/tw/.
Software
Rockwell Collins to use Green Hills software in Sikorsky S-92 helicopter
Officials at Rockwell Collins recently selected the Integrity-178B real-time operating system (RTOS) from Green Hills Software in Santa Barbara, Calif., for use in the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter's new avionics package. Integrity-178B and Green Hills Software's GSTART Ada run-time environment, are being used in Rockwell Collins new Avionics Management and Display System.
Integrity-178B is for applications that require safety, security and high integrity software development, says John Carbone, vice president of marketing for Green Hills Software. "Integrity-178B's robustly partitioned architecture, real-time deterministic performance, and overall ease-of-use of the AdaMULTI tool chain gives it a clear advantage over general purpose RTOSs like VxWorks."
Rockwell Collins engineers are also using Green Hills Software's AdaMULTI Integrated Development Environment to develop the flight software for the new S-92 cockpit.
The main processor for the Avionics Management and Display system is a Motorola PowerPC running Integrity-178B and the GSTART Ada run-time environment, Green Hills officials say. The system provides the display and integrated management of primary flight data, presentation and management of navigation information for the S-92. The system also provides flight management data, a digital map, weather radar, terrain information, and engine instrument caution and advisory system processing and display, company officials say. Rockwell Collins officials will use Integrity-178B and GSTART to achieve DO-178B Level-A certification of the Avionics Management and Display system.
Rockwell Collins officials also recently named Green Hills as one of its preferred suppliers.
Integrity-178B uses hardware memory protection, and an advanced two-level partition scheduler to provide time, space, and resource partitioning between applications operating on the same hardware platform, Green Hills officials say. This partitioning effectively builds a firewall between applications and the kernel, preventing errors in one application from corrupting other applications or the kernel, company officials say. Integrity-178B also provides protection and guaranteed resource availability in both the time and space domains, thereby enabling applications that have been assigned different DO-178B safety levels to run concurrently on the same processor, in other words it supports "robust partitioning," as defined in ARINC-653, Carbone says.
Integrity-178B's ARINC-653 Application/Executive (APEX) interface provides a recognized standard interface between the operating system of an avionics computer resource and the application software.
Integrity-178B includes an RTOS simulator that enables programmers to develop and test their code on a PC or workstation without the need for target hardware, Green Hills officials say. Integrity-178B also features a real-time event analyzer that enables viewing of system and user events in a graphical display, company officials say.
The Sikorsky Aircraft Corp manufactures the S/H-92 medium lift twin-engine helicopter. The S/H-92 is an evolution of Sikorsky's S-70 U.S. Army Black Hawk and U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopters and is scheduled to receive type certification later this year. The S/H-92 is designed to be a multi-mission helicopter and will be available in a 19-seat passenger commercial, a 22-troop utility and a number of mission-specific configurations including Search and Rescue, government, and VIP transportation.
Rockwell Collins officials successfully completed the first S-92 test flight of the system last fall and have accumulated more than 300 hours of company flight tests to date. The new S-92 cockpit is designed for improved visibility and is equipped with an avionics package, which provides the core of an open architecture avionics suite for processing aircraft system information, Green Hills officials say. Flight data is shown on four Rockwell Collins multi-function displays, with a fifth display offered as an option.
For more information on Green Hills Software contact the company by phone at 805-965-6044, by email at sales@ ghs.com, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.ghs.com.
Homeland security
Thales Communications to supply digital radios to U.S. government agencies
Officials of U.S. Departments of Justice and the Treasury needed interoperable radio equipment for homeland defense and other initiatives. Project 25 radio equipment from Thales Communications Inc. of Clarksburg, Md., met their needs.
Thales won a contract from the Justice and Treasury departments that creates a purchasing mechanism that allows major federal law-enforcement agencies to buy interoperable radio equipment from a variety of manufacturers using the Project 25 standard.
The contract is for as much as $3 billion over five years for all vendors involved.
Project 25 digital technology helps most federal agencies meet their mandated switch to narrowband operation by 2005. The technology is of particular interest to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Customs Service, Immigration and naturalization Service, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Project 25 radio equipment has capabilities such as front-panel frequency programming, radio cloning, output feedback DES encryption, over-the-air rekey capability, and 'shadow channels' that operate with old analog radios, Thales officials say.
For more information contact Thales Communications by phone at 240-864-7000, by fax at 240-864-7620, by post at 22605 Gateway Center Drive, Clarksburg, Md., 20871, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.thalescomminc.com/.
Displays
SGI system powers Royal Australian Air Force F-111 mission simulator
Officials at Thales Training & Simulation (TT&S) Pty Limited's Australia business selected an SGI Onyx 3000 series high-performance graphics system with three Infinite Reality3 graphics pipes from Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) in Mountain View, Calif., to serve as the image generator for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-111 mission simulator at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland, Australia.
This system will help train aircrews from the RAAF's Strike Reconnaissance Group. The three SGI graphics subsystems are dedicated to providing an out-the-window scene for the pilot and navigator, SGI officials say. InfiniteReality3 is the latest version of the SGI graphics subsystem from and is the engine for the SGI Onyx 3000 series, company officials say.
"SGI technology has proven to be highly reliable and supportable over the past seven years of the project," says Mike Renie, F-111 simulator project manager at TT&S. "The F-111 simulator has achieved a 99.8 percent availability rate with a Silicon Graphics Onyx system contributing considerably to the success of the program, and we are expecting even better performance from the SGI Onyx 3800 system. The use of a common vendor (SGI) on the F-111 simulator was invaluable during the development phase of the project and is even more significant in the maintenance phase."
The simulator, powered by SGI technology, not only provides training for the RAAF's F-111 aircrews in such essentials as takeoff and landing, but, more important, it also enables aircrews to simulate the mission profiles they will fly, exposing them to all the contingencies of flying a tactical mission, SGI officials say. Flying missions that are difficult to practice in reality can be taught without restriction in this virtual environment. Dangerous low-altitude missions involving the delivery of missiles and bombs can be practiced in the F-111 mission simulator without disturbing civilian populations and communities in Australia, company officials say.
The SGI Onyx 3000 series, designed to simultaneously process 3-D graphics, 2-D imagery, and video data, also scales from single-user systems to those that combine the ultimate in supercomputing and visualization technologies, SGI officials say. The series of graphics systems also has the power and real-time visualization capability to concurrently process imagery, video, 3-D terrain, and geospatial data, company officials claim.
The SGI Onyx 3000 series is the third-generation implementation of the SGI NUMA architecture. The tightly coupled architecture, which has inherent scaling of system and graphics bandwidth, is central to the series' visual performance, SGI officials say. The SGI NUMA architecture also increases memory bandwidth and reduces memory latency, company officials claim.
For more information on the SGI visualization systems and SGI contact the company by phone at 650-960-1980, by post at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, Calif., 94083, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.sgi.com/visualization/.
Computers
New Northrop Grumman ruggedized handheld computer chosen for U.K. Bowman project
Engineers at Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Navigation Systems division recently developed a small, lightweight, ruggedized Next Generation Handheld (NGH) computer for defense, public safety, and paramilitary applications. Company officials say the NGH is a virtual 'drop-in' replacement for Northrop Grumman's predecessor Handheld Terminal Unit (HTU), and
offers sunlight-readability and night usability features with a long battery life.
The NGH was chosen for the U.K. Ministry of Defense's BOWMAN battlefield communications system, Northrop Grumman officials say. Northrop Grumman designed a special NGH for BOWMAN with a 10.4-inch touch screen display. More than 10,000 NGHs, known as vehicle user data terminals, will be built and delivered to British forces. Northrop Grumman has delivered more than 6,400 HTUs, primarily to U.S. Army customers, company officials say.
The NGH provides a dual channel tactical modem that permits immediate connectivity to more than 25 tactical communications devices using standard U.S. military and NATO protocols, Northrop Grumman officials say. It can also be used for most military handheld and vehicle-mounted applications. The NGH, which uses a Mk VII Laser Rangefinder, built by Northrop Grumman's Laser Systems business unit in Apopka, Fla., and a Rockwell-Collins Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver, can provide integrated precision targeting to pinpoint enemy targets and can send digital calls for fire to an artillery battery, company officials say.
The standard NGH uses a Pentium MMX 166 MHz processor to extend battery life and a Pentium III 500 MHz processor is available for use in vehicles where power is supplied. Other processor options are also available. The low-power sunlight readable display is dimmable for night operations. A "hot swap" rechargeable battery provides over five hours of power and the battery can be replaced without turning the unit off. The keyboard backlight offers three intensity settings for night operations, and the keyboard acts as the NGH's case cover, protecting the display and keyboard, Northrop Grumman officials say. The company is set to begin full-scale production of the NGH in May 2002.
For more information about NGH contact Northrop Grumman on the World Wide Web at http://www.northropgrumman.com.
Power electronics
BAE to provide power-management systems for unmanned ground combat vehicle
Systems designers at the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control segment in Dallas needed a power management system for the Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle — better known as the UGCV. They found their solution from BAE Systems Controls in Johnson City, N.Y.
Lockheed Martin is developing the UGCV under supervision of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
BAE Systems's power management system for the UGCV will consist of 10 modular integrated motor controllers to manage the vehicle's several motor drives, a modular battery management system to provide energy storage, a redundant permanent-magnet generator driven by a modified diesel engine, and a low-voltage bus power system for vehicle accessory and mission systems.
BAE Systems's power management system incorporates a hybrid-electric drive subsystem.
The Lockheed Martin UCGV will be 6 feet long, 30 inches wide, and 18 inches tall. It will ride on six motor-driven wheels, each mounted on a 360-degree articulating arm to handle rugged terrain while performing reconnaissance surveillance, and targeting missions.
The vehicle is expected to operate on 14-day missions on one tank of fuel, on-board power to conduct surveillance on 24-hour "silent-watch" missions, and will have "silent drive" mode for limited periods of operating solely on electric power with the engine off.
For more information Larry Stone at BAE Systems Controls by phone at 607-770-3994, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.na.baesystems.com/.
Computer peripherals
TEAC America to provide solid-state data recorders for Australian Tiger helicopters
Engineers at TEAC America in Montebello, Calif., are set to provide their company's ruggedized MDR-87 mission data recorders to the Australian AIR-87 Tiger helicopter program.
Australia's AIR-87 program will equip the Australian Defense Force with Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters for land defense.
TEAC's line of solid-state digital video and data recorders are configured for this program's single line-replaceable units that record three video channels and one 1553 digital aircraft that can be transmitted or downloaded for intelligence gathering, debriefing, or training.
TEAC's involvement in the Eurocopter program in Australia will provide solid-state recorders for 22 helicopters for aerial reconnaissance and fire support, a mission planning and control system, a software support facility, a comprehensive training system that includes simulators, and electronic warfare support systems.
The MDR-87 recorders have plug-in application cards to support several different configurations. Application cards include MPEG-2 digital video compression, MIL-STD-1553 and PCM digital data, mission data loading, video burst receive/transmission,
The optional configurations use as many as seven plug-in applications cards and a variety of solid-state or hard-drive memory in a removable memory module.
For more information contact TEAC by phone at 323-726-0303, by fax at 323-727-4877, by post at 7733 Telegraph Road, Montebello, Calif. 90640, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.teac-recorders.com/.
