Navy chooses rugged data storage units from Crystal Group for fleet of P-8 maritime patrol jets

June 10, 2015
HIAWATHA, Iowa, 10 June 2015. U.S. Navy avionics experts needed data storage systems for the Navy Boeing P-8A maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) jet aircraft. They found their solution from Crystal Group Inc. in Hiawatha, Iowa.
HIAWATHA, Iowa, 10 June 2015. U.S. Navy avionics experts needed data storage systems for the Navy Boeing P-8A maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) jet aircraft. They found their solution from Crystal Group Inc. in Hiawatha, Iowa.

The Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis is awarding Crystal a contract extension to provide 24 of Crystal's Video And Data Storage System (VADSS) for P-8A aircraft that Boeing already has delivered to the Navy.

Crystal officials announced today that Boeing has awarded the company a contract extension to provide 24 VADSS units, which consist of Crystal's rugged, lightweight computer servers and data storage devices

The Crystal VADSS units are designed to capture and process video data gathered from surveillance sensors onboard the P-8A -- a variation of the Boeing 737-800 single-aisle passenger jetliner modified for maritime patrol and ASW.

Related: Driving the demand for data storage

Today's contract modification calls for Crystal to provides the VADSS units for installation aboard the Navy P-8A aircraft sometime this fall. The entire contract, including prior award to supply VADSS for Lots 4 and 5 of the P-8A production, is expected to complete in late 2016.

The P-8A, which is replacing the Navy's ageing fleet of Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion maritime patrol turboprop aircraft, carries sensors, data links, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), missiles, and torpedoes to detect, pinpoint, and attack quiet enemy submarines. The aircraft also can find and attack enemy surface vessels, and aid in search-and-rescue operations. For more information contact Crystal Group online at www.crystalrugged.com.

About the Author

John Keller | Editor

John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.

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