Aircraft Avionics

Abstract

A portion of this funding line is directly aligned to the Assured Positioning, Navigation, & Timing (APNT) Army Modernization Priority. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget request funds the development of Aircraft Avionics systems required to horizontally and vertically integrate the battlefield and the integration of those systems into Army aircraft. Tasks in this Program Element support research, development, and test efforts in the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phases of these systems. Alternate capabilities (non-GPS) and/or complimentary PNT solutions will be investigated, studied, evaluated and developed as standalone or blended navigation functions. The Enhanced Aviation Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV) Embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) Inertial Navigation System (EGI) (EAGLE-M) development program upgrades existing EGI hardware by incorporating M-Code to provide Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (A-PNT) capability in a GPS degraded environment. The Alternate Position, Navigation, and Time (ALT-PNT) enables precise navigation and timing during Multidomain Operations (MDO) operations in the absence of GPS by leveraging ALT-NAV and Vision Based Navigation (VBN) efforts, and providing a secure and reliable fused PNT solution utilizing new and existing high grade sensors available on manned aviation aircraft. ALT-PNT utilizes Modular Open System Architecture (MOSA) standards allowing rapid and affordable platform integration, adopting of new technologies, and adjustment to changes in adversarial capability. The Degraded Visual Environment (DVE) Environment Exploitation System (EES) focuses on active and passive sensor technology, synthetic vision, sensor and software data fusion, imagery processing, user interface, and multicore processing technologies to enable current and future capabilities and innovative technical solutions for the Army aviation fleet. The Improved Data Modem (IDM) is the common solution for digitizing Army Aviation and is fielded on every modernized, rotary-wing Army aircraft, including the CH-47 Chinook, AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk. The IDM provides the Army rotary wing fleet with critical communication capabilities, enables connectivity to multiple radios used by rotary-wing aircraft and the Blue Force Tracking transceiver, and provides the means for rapid data transfer. The Aviation Mission Common Server (AMCS) effort is a replacement and capability upgrade for the current Army IDM 401 and provides the future architecture, hardware, and software capabilities for the next generation of IDM functionality and expanded mission processing. The AMCS will provide Army aviation an Open System Architecture hardware and software digital backbone developed utilizing a Modular Open Systems Approach and aligns with the Enterprise Architecture Framework (EAF). The AMCS program will implement Mission Command Information System (MCIS) and additional Common Operating Environment capabilities utilizing a flexible open systems architecture and distributed processing resources with the capacity and architecture to perform an array of additional non-flight critical computing, data processing, radio and communications management, and graphics generation functions for the enduring and future Army Aviation fleet while maintaining separation of non-flight critical mission system technology integration from flight critical components. The AMCS provides the ability to rapidly integrate technology upgrades required to keep pace with evolving threats on Multi-Domain Battlefield. The AMCS enables the hosting of enhanced capabilities to communicate, navigate, sense, deploy weapon systems and interoperate across the Joint Force, and will be the center of the future Common Digital Backbone for the enduring and future Army Aviation fleets. AMCS is a key enabler for Multi-Domain Operations. The Aviation Mission Planning System (AMPS) is a system used to conduct pre-mission and aircraft performance planning. It receives data from multiple sources and provides that data digitally to the aircraft to support aviation missions. AMPS is used for automated mission planning, risk assessment, and transfer of mission data to aviation platforms within an Aviation unit. This includes route generation, performance planning, communications planning, terrain analysis, data transfer, and mission rehearsal. These efforts include development and testing of a new underlying architecture to support the move of Army Aviation Mission Planning from the current structure to one that supports synchronization both vertically and horizontally between Aviation and Ground forces. It will allow aircrews to continually plan and update route, threat, and performance data throughout all phases of an Aviation mission. Development of a mobile aircraft performance planning/weight and balance calculator is currently underway and will be the first migration of AMPS capabilities to a mobile hardware agnostic environment. The AN/ARC-220 High Frequency (HF) Radio is a US Army rotary wing high frequency solution which is operational on over 2,400 Army helicopters (primarily CH-47, UH-60, and AH-64). Key capabilities are voice and data, Automatic Link Establishment, text messaging, position reporting, and Selective Calling. It is also Voice Interoperable with standard ground HF systems in use today. Efforts include development of an Airborne Radio Control Manager (ARCM) driver to enhance the modernization of the AN/ARC-220 HF Radio.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2023
• Source ID: 0604201A_5_2040_PB_2023
• Change Summary Explanation: FY 2023 funding increase reflects the fact that the FY 2022 President's Budget request did not include out-year funding.
• Service Agency Name: Army

Entities

Organizations

• United States Army

Tags

Communities of Interest

• Air Platforms
• Biomedical
• Cyber
• Engineered Resilient Systems
• Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Air Traffic
• Aircrafts
• Army Aircraft
• Army Aviation
• Data Processing
• Data Transmission
• Global Positioning Systems
• Inertial Navigation
• Inertial Navigation Systems
• Information Systems
• Multi-Domain Operations
• Navigation
• Open System Architecture
• Product Development
• Rotary Wing Aircraft
• Software Development
• Test And Evaluation

Readers

• Aerospace Engineering
• Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
• Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Technology.

Technology Areas

• Space