The influence of lead-free RoHS guidelines on military electronics procurement
August 19, 2009
Worldwide environmental RoHS requirements to use lead free solder and RoHS compliant processes continue to put the squeeze on military avionics system designers who wish to avoid using lead free electronics because of tin whiskers and other potential impediments to high reliability electronics.
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Unmanned aerial vehicles flown in warfare, border control, and forest fire applications
August 5, 2009
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for military applications is more important that it has ever been, and government leaders are sharing ideas with UAV designers to broaden their use not only in wartime conflicts, but also for border control, emergency response, law enforcement, and forest fire surveillance.
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Death, taxes, and 1553
July 15, 2009
The decades-old, 1-megabit-per-second MIL-STD 1553 databus is still the reliable choice in old and new avionics systems.
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Synthetic vision systems provide pilots with unprecedented awareness
July 2, 2009
Nothing is more dangerous for a pilot than when he is blind as to where his runway is – whether this is due to poor weather conditions or unfamiliar terrain. Therefore pilots need technology that can be their eyes in hazardous conditions.
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Space avionics systems require power balanced performance in rad-hard processors
May 31, 2009
The methods for making processors and integrated circuits (ICs) radiation hardened have not changed much, but the chips themselves are getting smaller, faster, and generating more heat than ever before in avionics systems in space applications.
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Existing displays and guidance systems combined with synthetic vision systems reduce aircraft approach minimums
May 20, 2009
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 20 May 2009. Engineers at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are combining the avionics capabilities from traditional head-up cockpit displays and head-up guidance systems with next generation technology such as surveillance, enhanced, and synthetic vision systems to improve navigation performance.
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Avionics connectors getting more rugged for demanding market
May 6, 2009
Avionics hardware integrators are demanding today's avionics connectors be faster, lighter, and more rugged than ever before – especially those that fly on unmanned aircraft. Avionics Connector suppliers also see the avionics market climate holding steady with the military avionics sector showing growth.
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Open-DO, making certification for DO-178B and its successor DO-178C more efficient
April 15, 2009
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 15 April 2009. Leaders from Boeing and Adacore have joined hands to create a more efficient development environment for designers certifying their systems under the DO-178B standard and its follow-on standard DO-18C.
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Pilatus embedded trainer aircraft uses COTS embedded hardware for its mission system avionics
April 1, 2009
Designers at Pilatus Aircraft Ltd., needed to reduce the cost, size, and weight of the Pilatus PC-21 turboprop trainer's mission system avionics with a system that also brought life-cycle cost savings. They decided to upgrade with Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing hardware and avionics subsystems integration expertise to manage and control its sophisticated mission system.
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Embedded system designers aid the cyber warfare fight through software security methods such as separation kernels and hybervisors
March 18, 2009
Terrorists are using cyber warfare threats like viruses, malware, spyware, trojan horses, worms, stolen laptops, thumb drives, and iPods to wage information warfare on the national infrastructure and on the Internet, as government and industry work to enable military personnel to gather, transmit, and protect critical information.
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Component and design considerations for extended product lifecycles
March 2, 2009
A major consideration for components and an overall systems design approach is obsolescence, which in the materials and dimensions of a component can have a dramatic influence on the long-term viability of a product life cycle. Both are critical in the design and development of products for the defense and aerospace industries where communications, aircraft avionics, navigation, guidance, and radar systems require long-term reliability and upgradeability.
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Commercial aerospace and defense companies ensure avionics and other electronic systems with test and measurement tools
February 18, 2009
Test and measurement tools for defense and aerospace applications are crucial to prevent failures that could put lives and expensive equipment at risk.
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Radar technology looks to the future
January 19, 2009
Modern radar systems are combining advanced materials, solid-state modules, digital signal processors, and complex A-D converters to give a better look to aerospace, military, and civilian users who need the best possible capability in small, compact, and efficient packages.
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Unmanned vehicles and network-centric warfare put the squeeze on rugged connectors
January 6, 2009
Environmental demands for aerospace and military electrical and electro-optic connectors are becoming ever-more pressing as defense systems enter the network-centric age, and as defense planers rely ever more heavily on unmanned vehicles.
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NASA uses simulation technology to evaluate fighter pilot performance
December 17, 2008
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. 17 Dec. 2008. Engineers at NASA Ames Research Center used current simulation technology to create scientific methods for evaluating fighter pilot performance.
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Commercial aircraft avionics leveraged for next-generation NASA spacecraft
November 29, 2008
Avionics for the follow-on to the space shuttle are based on systems used in commercial aircraft and adapted for space to help guide the pilots of NASA's next generation spacecraft – the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.
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Software code and COTS
November 13, 2008
Developers harness the latest software engineering tools to deliver reliable, mission-critical, real-time embedded software to aerospace and military users.
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Army helicopter upgrades on pace
October 25, 2008
WASHINGTON The Apache AH-64 D Longbow Block III helicopter upgrade is on pace for eventual deployment in the next few years, with upgrades planned for the UH-60M Black Hawk and Kiowa Warrior – the armed version of the OH-58D helicopter, said U.S. Army aviation officials at the Association of U.S. Army (AUSA) annual meeting in Washington last month.
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Avionics enter the fifth generation
October 11, 2008
Advanced military aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F-22 air-superiority jet fighter, and the E-2D Hawkeye carrier-based maritime patrol and radar surveillance aircraft will have powerful avionics systems like never seen before.
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