Curtiss-Wright selected to provide avionics for new all-electric air taxi

ASHBURN, Va. - Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division announced that it was awarded a contract to provide an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer with a rugged avionics system and networking solutions for use on the company’s new aircraft. The fully electric fixed-wing aircraft, designed to function as a piloted urban air taxi, will use Curtiss-Wright flight control computer and vehicle Ethernet switch solutions during the flight test stage of the new aircraft’s development.

Curtiss-Wright USFF electronic subsystems, which are ideal for use on size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) constrained airborne platforms, have previously been selected for use on multiple eVTOL development programs in addition to this most recent design win. Under the contract, Curtiss-Wright is supplying the customer with its fully rugged Parvus DuraCOR 311, a USFF embedded computer/controller based on a low-power quad-core Intel Atom E3845 (Bay Trail-I) processor, and the Parvus DuraNET 20-11, a USFF 8-port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch.

Both products are optimized for extremely demanding SWaP-C applications, such as space-constrained rotorcraft and unmanned airborne platforms, which are especially sensitive to additional weight that can limit flight duration and/or distance. The DuraCOR 311 measures less than 40 in³ in volume and weighs less than 1.5 lb, while the “pocket-sized” DuraNET 20-11 measures only 10 in3 in volume, and weighs only 0.5 lb.

Curtiss-Wright designs and manufactures the integrated system products covered by this contract at its Salt Lake City, Utah facility.