Air Force picks Rohde & Schwarz USA to build VDATS open-architecture avionics test and measurement station
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – U.S. Air Force electronics experts needed a company to assemble a field- and depot-level avionics test and measurement system. They found their solution from Rohde & Schwarz USA Inc. in Columbia, Md.
Officials of the Air Force Sustainment Center at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., announced a $9.2 million five-year contract to Rohde & Schwarz on Wednesday to provide kits to assemble the Versatile Diagnostic Automatic Test Station (VDATS).
VDATS is the Air Force member of the U.S. military families-of-testers, and is the Air Force's directed and preferred automatic test solution.
The station has a modular open-architecture design and is adaptable to most electronic test and measurement needs. It was designed originally for depot testing capabilities, but is suitable for intermediate-level testing under controlled conditions.
Today test and measurement experts at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex (WR-ALC) at Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pa., build the VDATS organically.
The tester comes in two core configurations: the digital analog (DA)-1 that handles most analog and light digital requirements; and the DA-2 station for enhanced digital testing for advanced avionics testing. It also has a radio-frequency roll-up assembly for standard RF test capability.
The VDATS design enables modular capability enhancements through mission equipment support sets (MESS) for small applications or roll-up bays for larger applications that are portable.
This preserves the configuration stability of the station while providing flexibility to adapt to a wide variety of workload requirements, which also reduces the proliferation of unique test stations, experts say.
On this contract Rohde & Schwarz will do the work in Columbia, Md., and should be finished by February 2026. For more information contact Rohde & Schwarz USA online at www.rohde-schwarz.com, or the Air Force Sustainment Center at Robins Air Force Base at www.afsc.af.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
