Air Force asks Lockheed Martin for multifunction displays avionics upgrades for C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft

Summary points:

• Lockheed Martin will modernize cockpit multifunction displays across the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of 52 C-5M Super Galaxy cargo aircraft.
• The Replacement Multifunctional Controls and Displays program will replace six legacy cockpit displays with modern 15-inch units without requiring a full system redesign.
• The upgrade uses a modular open-systems design with components from Intellisense Systems and CMC Electronics, with support for current databuses and future avionics upgrades.

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – Military avionics experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will upgrade the multifunction displays in cockpit avionics of the U.S. Air Force fleet of 52 C-5M Super Galaxy giant four-engine cargo jets under terms of a $48.8 million sole-source contract announced in late June.

Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., are asking the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics segment in Marietta, Ga., for replacement multi-functional control displays for avionics upgrades for the C-5M Super Galaxy fleet.

Lockheed Martin will develop, integrate, test, kit, prototype, and test an integrated design into the latest C-5 configuration. This order is part of an overall Air Force effort called the Replacement Multifunctional Controls and Displays (RMCD) program to adapt existing interfaces with the C-5M avionics backplane to avoid any development that would drive a redesign of the entire avionics suite, Air Force officials say.

The RMCD program focuses on upgrading the cockpit display systems of the C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft by replacing aging multi-function display units with modern 15-inch displays.

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This project will use the VDT-1209 high-resolution video display terminal from Intellisense Systems Inc. in Torrance, Calif.; the PU-3000 multicore avionics computer from CMC Electronics in Montreal; and use a modular open-architecture for future hardware and software integration.

The RMCD system interfaces with existing C-5M cockpit databuses, including MIL-STD-1553B, ARINC-429, and ARINC-708. Displays provide primary flight, navigation, and systems information to pilots, and replace six legacy smart displays in C-5M's cockpit.

The C-5 is larger than a Boeing 747 and is one of the largest military transport aircraft in the world; it has been in the Air Force transport fleet since 1970. The plane is large enough to fit six Greyhound buses lined up two abreast, and is for strategic airlift, emergency aeromedical evacuation, transport of brigade-size forces and equipment, and delivery of oversize cargo.

12.5 tons of cargo

The aircraft can transport 12.5 tons of cargo, and can carry two M1 Abrams main battle tanks, an Abrams tank plus two M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 10 Light Armored Vehicles, six AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, or 36 standard cargo pallets. The aircraft's lower deck also can accommodate 270 troops.

Since 2002 the C-5M has undergone a major series of upgrades, including the Avionics Modernization Program to install a mission computer, a glass cockpit with digital avionics including autopilot and automatic throttles, and communications, navigation, and surveillance components for air traffic management. The aircraft also has received new engines.

The new C-5M display and graphics processors will replace legacy multifunction display through legacy interfaces to the existing mission processing system, while also being prepared for future interface technology updates.

On this order Lockheed Martin will do the work in Marietta, Ga., and Greenville, S.C., and should be finished by May 2029. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Aeronautics online at www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics.html, or the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at www.aflcmc.af.mil.