Pilatus Display Accord

Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. has signed on Astronautics Corp. of America for long-term support of the Swiss airframer’s PC-7 and PC-9 aircraft. Astronautics will provide both the 6-by-8-inch and 5 ATI (air transport indicator) electronic flight instrument systems (EFIS) for the upgrade and production of the PC-7/PC-7 MKII and the PC-9/PC-9M aircraft (-9M cockpit shown, right). Both the PC-7 and PC-9 are used worldwide in introductory pilot training and acrobatics. The Milwaukee-based company will continue to supply electromechanical attitude indicators and horizontal situation indicators to the airplanes, as well.

The 6-by-8-inch and 5 ATI EFIS systems support primary flight and navigation. These "smart" active matrix liquid crystal displays can receive and process data from GPS, the attitude heading reference system, navigation radios, air data, autopilot and radio altimeter systems. The launch customers for the large EFIS in new PC-9s and for the 5 ATI EFIS on a PC-7 retrofit are the air forces of Ireland and Switzerland, respectively. Visit www.astronautics.com.

Honeywell LAAS Award

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has tapped Honeywell to develop, manufacture, install and provide training and support for local area augmentation system (LAAS) ground facilities at agency test centers and airports in North America. With contract options the program could exceed $350 million in value. The first step is to finalize the LAAS integrity design, after which Honeywell will construct, install and support equipment at the following sites:

• William J. Hughes Technical Center,

• Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center,

• Memphis International Airport,

• Sky Harbor International Airport,

• George Bush Intercontinental Airport,

• Juneau International Airport,

• Chicago O’Hare International Airport,

• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and a

• Honeywell facility in Coon Rapids, Minn.

The first system is to be operational by late 2006. Visit www.honeywell.com.

Cabin Surveillance System Tested

Airworks Inc., Irvine, Calif., has been testing its CDSS Type III cabin surveillance system in preparation for initial installation in two ATA Airlines aircraft, a Boeing 737 and 757. The Indianapolis-based carrier is the launch customer for the CDS Type III. It plans to install systems with up to eight cameras (the CDSS can include up to 16 cameras). ATA operates 64 B737/757s and 13 L-1011s.

The CDSS Type III is Airworks’ first cabin surveillance system to interface with an electronic flight bag (EFB). (The company already has delivered more than 230 CDSS Type II systems to non-U.S. operators complying with Joint Aviation Authority and German LBA mandates, and has four supplemental type certificates for the system, along with seven pending.) Testing on the Type III version to DO-160 standard began in late May. The first installation is planned for September.

The CDSS Type III incorporates a plug-and-play interface to the data server unit for the EFB. Aircraft operators that have Airworks’ Type II cabin surveillance system can modify it for EFB interface by exchanging the system’s black box and adding a data server unit, used to store the EFB’s maps, charts, etc. Visit www.airworksinc.com.

BAE COTS Operating System

BAE Systems’ real-time operating system (RTOS) will be used on the flight control system upgrade for the C-17 transport aircraft. Known as CsLEOS, the RTOS supports the Globemaster III’s Modernized Flight Control Computer and Spoiler Control Electronic Flap Computer programs. The software’s certification package permits the flight control suite to be qualified to DO-178B, Level A, according to Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) requirements.

Unlike many proprietary avionics operating systems, CsLEOS was introduced last year as an open-API (application programming interface), off-the-shelf product, which BAE will sell to competitors. The software also is designed into Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), military space applications, and a rotorcraft application. BAE was submitting quotes on a commercial aircraft opportunity, adds Milan Dedek, CsLEOS product manager.

Like Green Hills Software, LynuxWorks and Wind River Systems, BAE is pushing for National Security Agency (NSA) evaluation assurance level (EAL) certification, something that is required for UCAVs and network-centric warfare applications. BAE hopes to obtain NSA approval this year. The software also complies with the ARINC 653 specification, providing "brick wall" time and memory partitioning. This allows multiple applications to run on the same system without interfering with each other. Visit www.baesystems.com.

B-1B Awards

The ALQ-161 program office at Robins AFB, Ga., has issued EDO a pair of B-1B awards relating to the bomber’s AN/ALQ-161 defensive system. The first award covers engineering support, including technical studies, software testing and diminishing manufacturing sources studies. The second award covers support for subassembly repairs. Visit www.edocorp.com.

Civil Aircraft Self-Defense

Elta Systems, a unit of Israel Aircraft Industries, and Israel Military Industries (IMI) have announced a joint venture agreement to develop Flight Guard, a passenger aircraft self-protection system. Composed of Elta’s surface-to-air missile detection system and IMI’s countermeasures dispensing system, the product is expected to be certified by year-end. Visit www.imi-israel.com.

Airborne Wireless Internet

Boeing and Lufthansa Technik have obtained aircraft certifications from German and UK authorities, a move that will enable the eventual use of airborne wireless applications on select commercial flights employing the Connexion by Boeing mobile information service. The rulings pave the way for passengers to use their own IEEE 802.b Wi-Fi devices within the cabin, a "groundbreaking" development, Boeing says. Visit www.boeing.com and www.lufthansa-technik.com.

GPS Anti-Jam Contract

The U.S. Office of Naval Research has selected Interstate Electronics Corp. to develop scalable multi-element space-time-adaptive-processing (STAP) adaptive array technology, aimed at nulling GPS jammers. STAP is an adaptive antenna signal processing technique. Visit www.iechome.com.