LAKEHURST, N.J. – Test and measurement experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will provide the U.S. Navy with six eCASS advanced combat avionics test instruments under terms of a $19 million order announced Thursday.
Officials of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, N.J., are asking engineers at the Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems segment in Orlando, Fla., to build six electronic Consolidated Automated Support Systems (eCASS).
The eCASS equipment is designed to help sailors and Marines to troubleshoot and repair aircraft assemblies and return the avionics to service quickly. The test and measurement systems are for aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, or at aviation land bases.
The order includes three self-maintenance and test and calibration operational test program sets and three shore installation kits in support of the Navy’s F-35 program and allied militaries.
Related: High-performance test and measurement equipment hits the flight line
The eCASS test equipment is replacing the Navy's legacy CASS test equipment originally fielded in the early 1990s. CASS is the Navy’s standard automatic test equipment family supporting electronics on naval aircraft.
The first eCASS station went to the Navy in February 2014 to support all the aircraft in the Navy’s fleet, extending to new weapons systems such as the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter. Lockheed Martin won a $103 million low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract in January 2014 for the first 36 eCASS test and measurement stations.
The eCASS station is the workhorse for avionics repair across the naval aviation enterprise, Lockheed Martin officials say. The test gear helps aircraft maintenance technicians return equipment to readiness status quickly and efficiently. Compatibility with legacy CASS stations preserves the Navy’s investment in more than 550 test program sets supporting 750 avionics components.
The eCASS architecture is based on the Lockheed Martin LM-STAR commercial automated testing system that is designed to facilitate technology insertion and long-term supportability.
LM-STAR serves as the cornerstone of the F-35 Lightning II harmonization plan, which helps enable several different avionics manufacturers to develop tests to help electronics move from the factory floor to fleet maintenance depots, Lockheed Martin officials say.
On this contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Orlando, Fla., and should be finished by December 2023. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems online at www.lockheedmartin.com, or the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division-Lakehurst at www.navair.navy.mil/lakehurst.
