Air Force chooses flightline test equipment from Marvin for A-10C close-air-support jet
IRVINE, Calif., 4 Dec. 2013. U.S. Air Force aircraft maintenance experts needed a flightline test set for the Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II close-air-support combat jet. They found their solution from Marvin Test Solutions Inc. in Irvine, Calif.
The Air Force has awarded a $5.7 million contract to Marvin Test Solutions to provide the customized test platform for the PATS-70 flightline test set for Thunderbolt II. Production deliveries have already begun, company officials say.
The MTS-207 forms the basis for the new Portable Armament Test Set-70 (PATS-70) test solution for the A-10C. The PATS-70 flightline test set can evaluate the aircraft's upgraded digital avionics and weapons electronics.
The MTS-207 ultra-rugged flightline test set is a PXI-based, portable solution that Marvin Test Solutions engineers customized for flight test experts Hill Air Force Base, Utah, for the A-10C.
Marvin test engineers were able to develop and qualify the MTS-207 quickly "by using our mil-spec compliant commercial off the shelf, ultra-rugged chassis that is the workhorse for many of our turnkey systems," explains retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Steve Sargeant, CEO of Marvin Test Solutions.
"The new PATS-70 is a high-performance flightline test set in a portable, ultra-rugged deployable chassis, and allows the A-10C maintenance community to fully test the critical systems of the A-10C while minimizing logistics and simplifying operation," Sergeant says.
Marvin Test Solutions delivered a customized version of the MTS-207, A MIL-STD-810G-compliant PXI chassis equipped with 14 slots to enable the Air Force to integrate additional test instrumentation into the system for future test needs.
The Air Force completed the PATS-70 with the addition of cables, a user interface, and test program software. The MTS-207 enables the Air Force to make significant reductions in the time and cost of fielding the test set to the A-10C community, company officials say.
The PATS-70 evaluates the A-10C's systems for identification friend or foe (IFF); anti-skid; alpha mach; fuel quantity; stability augmentation system; and MIL-STD-1760 protocol buses, which include the MIL-STD-1553 databus.
For more information contact Marvin Test Solutions online at www.marvintest.com.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
