REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - The U.S. Army has awarded Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a $38.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for integration, modification, maintenance, enhancement, and engineering support for version 10.3 of the Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) software.
The contract action has a cumulative face value of $55.1 million and an estimated completion date of 28 Feb. 2029, according to the Department of Defense. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
CAAS is an avionics management system that integrates communications, navigation, and mission subsystems through Collins Aerospace's Flight2 open-systems architecture. Collins describes CAAS as providing integrated flight and mission avionics management, cockpit displays, advanced flight and hover symbology, digital mapping and tactical situational-awareness displays.
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Avionics modernization efforts
The architecture was developed to provide a common, scalable approach to avionics modernization across multiple Army helicopter platforms. A Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI) study of the Army's CAAS program describes it as a software product line in which common software and architectural assets could be adapted to different helicopter configurations. The approach was intended to address avionics obsolescence and modernization while reducing the cost and duplication associated with integrating new capabilities across different aircraft.
The SEI study identified open-system architecture, modularity, connectivity, supportability, and isolation of platform-specific variation as key elements of the CAAS approach. The product-line architecture originally supported Army special operations helicopters and subsequently expanded to other Army aviation platforms.
Collins Aerospace's current CAAS portfolio includes solutions for military rotorcraft, including the CH-47F and MH-47G. The company also provides mission-computing and other avionics hardware associated with the CAAS architecture.
The Army contract specifically covers CAAS 10.3 software, but the contract announcement does not identify specific new capabilities or architectural changes associated with that software baseline. Work locations and funding will be determined with individual delivery orders.
