GE Aviation and its joint venture company, Aviation Industries of China (AVIC), were selected to provide avionics core processing system, displays, avionics integration and on-board maintenance systems for the C919, a single-engine aircraft built by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC).
AVIC and GE are forming the new joint venture company to develop and market integrated avionics systems to the global commercial aerospace industry, and in particular the avionics systems for the C919.
The C919 modular avionics system provided by the proposed AVIC GE joint venture will be the central information system and backbone of the airplane’s networks and electronics and will host the airplane’s avionics, maintenance and utility functions.
"The C919 will be more advanced than current operating commercial air transport aircraft of the same size. It will use between 12 and 15 percent less fuel, and help reduce carbon emissions," said Zhang Qingwei, chairman, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China. "The GE AVIC open systems architecture avionics enables integration of third-party applications with high integrity and performance."
The avionics include open-architecture, integrated modular avionics core processing system; flight deck large-area display system; on-board maintenance system and the flight recording system
The new COMAC C919 150-passenger aircraft is scheduled to enter commercial service in 2016, with a global market forecast of more than 2,300 aircraft over 20 years.