Avionics maintenance for the U.S. Air Force Project Liberty Aircraft program to be provided by Rockwell Collins

Posted by John McHale
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa 14 April 2011.Avionics maintenance service and support for the U.S. Air Force Project Liberty Aircraft program will be provided by Rockwell Collins and L-3 Communications.
The U.S. Secretary of Defense created the project as an immediate response to the urgent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) needs of U.S. combat forces.
The contract calls for Rockwell Collins to provide maintenance on a total of 37 Air Force MC-12Ws. The planes are militarized versions of the Hawker Beechcraft Super King Air 350 and feature the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics display system, which provides operators with advanced capabilities, increased reliability, and enhanced value, company officials say.
"This maintenance contract is based on best practices that we've developed for commercial airlines and business jet operators for many years," says Scott Gunnufson, vice president and general manager of Service Solutions for Rockwell Collins. "The contract places incentives on Rockwell Collins to reduce turnaround time and to increase component availability while controlling costs for the customer."
The system features:
- three 10- by 8-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) adaptive flight displays;
- dual attitude heading reference system;
- dual digital air data computers;
- solid-state turbulence weather radar;
- engine indication system (EIS);
- integrated flight information system (IFIS); and
- video capability on the system’s multi-function display (MFD).
In addition, the MC-12W features video and signals intelligence capabilities to allow its crew of two pilots and two sensor operators to augment information gathered by other systems and provide actionable intelligence to battlefield leaders.