Presidential helicopter VH-60N to receive processor upgrade on control display unit avionics from Rockwell Collins

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 22 Sept. 2013. Helicopter avionics experts at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are upgrading avionics subsystems aboard the VH-60N Marine-One presidential helicopter under terms of an $11.7 million contract.

Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., have announced their intention to award a new delivery order to Rockwell Collins to replace the CDU-7000 control display unit's PowerPC 700 processor with a more modern Freescale MPC7448 reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor.

The CDU-7000 consolidates control of communications, navigation, weapons, and defensive aids in a military-hardened package. The unit is designed for military Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) requirements, as commercial Communication Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM). The CDU-7000 features a color active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD), and 3U CompactPCI circuit cards.

The MPC7448 processor is manufactured on 90 nanometer silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process technology and performs between 600 MHz and 1.5 GHz, has one megabyte of L2 cache, and enhanced power management capabilities.

The chip's 128-bit AltiVec vector execution unit enhances applications like high-resolution 3D graphics, video, audio, voice over IP, speech recognition, multi-channel modems, and virtual private network servers. The upgrades will change the nomenclature of the avionics subsystem from the CDU-7000 to the CDU-7000D.

The processor upgrade will help integrate the CDU-7000 avionics into the VH-60N cockpit upgrade program (CUP) preplanned product improvement (P3I) version 40 software and consolidate control of communication navigation surveillance/air traffic management, Navy officials say.

For more information contact Rockwell Collins online at www.rockwellcollins.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.