Air Force chooses solid-state data recorders from Calculex for F-15 jet fighters and bombers
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., 10 June 2015. U.S. Air Force avionics experts needed airborne data recorders for the Boeing F-15C/D jet fighter and for the F-15E fighter-bomber. They found their solution from Calculex Inc. in Las Cruces, N.M.
Officials of the Air Force Materiel Command at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., announced their intention last week to award a potential $4.8 million five-year contract to Calculex to provide the company's MOdular Non-volatile Solid STate Recorder (MONSSTR) model CSR-2300, as well as upgrades, spare parts, and support.
Calculex provides the CSR-2300 for the F-15C/D and F-15E fleets for recording video and MIL-STD-1553 mission data. Air Force officials say they plan to award a sole-source contract to Calculex later this year for the airborne data recorder data storage devices.
The Calculex CSR-2300 offers additional interfaces such as PCM, UART, PULSE, and Ethernet, and capacities as large as 256 gigabytes. The recorder is a removable memory module that complies with the IRIG 106 Chapter 10 standard.
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For these data recorders Calculex is the only responsible source and no other companies can satisfy Air Force needs, officials say. Calculex developed the software and hardware for these systems, which are proprietary, and the Air Force has no development funding for this procurement.
The Calculex CSR-2300 digital video and data recorder has four user slots that can accommodate a variety of I/O, including video, audio, PCM/UART/PULSE, MIL-STD-1553, and IRIG 106 chapter 10 data packet format for software data reconstruction.
The unit also has custom application-specific data processor boards; eight discrete inputs and eight outputs; two global audio channels on controller; RGB, composite, and S-video output; and Ethernet 10/100 Base T.
The recorder measures 7.5 by 10 by 4.5 inches, weighs 15.5 pounds, and runs on 2.5 amps at 28-volt DC power per MIL-STD-704A/D. It can record data as quickly as 40 megabytes per second.
Companies whose officials believe they could supply airborne data recorders that meet Air Force requirements should email capability statements to the Air Force's Capt. Jonathan Esquivel at [email protected].
For more information contact Calculex online at www.calculex.com, or the Air Force Materiel Command at www.afmc.af.mil.
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.
