Sikorsky S-97 RAIDER helicopter boasts ruggedized TTTech deterministic Ethernet solution on board

VIENNA, Austria, 28 May 2015. TTTech supplied ruggedized commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Deterministic Ethernet (TTEthernet) switches and end systems to Lockheed Martin for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.’s S-97 RAIDER helicopter, which just achieved its first flight.

“We are very pleased with growing aerospace industry interests in our mature Deterministic Ethernet networking products,” says Kurt Doppelbauer, vice president of sales for TTTech. “TTEthernet-based embedded platforms enable the design of novel architectures with new advanced capabilities while solving the majority of the pressing lifecycle and integrations issues.”

TTTech’s Deterministic Ethernet open architecture networks are based on open standards and designed for advanced time-, safety-, and mission-critical systems as well as critical infrastructure applications.

High-speed TTEthernet switches enable the design of advanced fault-tolerant architectures at lower complexity and system lifecycle costs.

TTEthernet networks enable mixed-criticality systems, including strictly deterministic and synchronous communication with seamless bandwidth partitioning. Critical command and control systems, audio/video as well as standard LAN applications can safely coexist in mixed-criticality TTEthernet networks which support hosting of hard real-time, real-time, and soft-time applications without traffic congestions. TTEthernet switches can be used as core networking technology for generic multi-purpose platforms in commercial aviation, helicopters, unmanned automotive and aerial vehicles, as well as space and maritime systems.

Sikorsky officials teamed up with leading aerospace system providers, including Lockheed Martin, for the RAIDER helicopter program to demonstrate breakthrough rotorcraft design and capabilities based on X2 technology. TTTech has been working with Sikorsky on a networked Distributed IMA based on TTEthernet since 2008. Following this successful effort, Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin selected TTEthernet as part of the vehicle network for the RAIDER helicopter project.

TTTech Computertechnik AG provides robust networked safety controls by leveraging automotive and aerospace real-time and safety technologies. The company’s solutions improve the uptime and reliability of networked electronic systems in the transportation and industrial segments.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), based in Stratford, Conn., is an aircraft designer, manufacturer, and service provider. United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., provides a broad range of high-technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.

The RAIDER aircraft program follows Sikorsky's X2 TECHNOLOGY demonstrator helicopter, which in September 2010 achieved more than 250 knots (287 mph) flight speed, or twice the average cruise speed of a conventional helicopter.