Navy orders video recorders data storage systems for U.S. and Australian F/A-18 jet fighter-bomber avionics
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy combat aircraft avionics experts needed high-definition video recorders for F/A-18C-F jet fighter-bomber. They found their solution from Mercury Systems Inc. in Torrance, Calif.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $14 million order to Mercury late last month for high-definition video recorders for the F/A-18C-F jet fighter-bombers and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare (EW) aircraft.
Avionics video recorders
Mercury Mission Systems (formerly Physical Optics Corp.) will provide 121 high-definition video recorders -- 109 for the Navy and 12 for Australia -- for F/A-18C-F and EA-18G aircraft retrofits.
The Mercury HDVR avionics high-definition video recorder is for high-speed data and video recording of flight incidents and mission data with 4 terabytes of memory, 550-megabit-per-second transfer speeds, 1-Gigabit Ethernet ports, and channels for high-speed digital video (HSDV).
The data recorder has a typical 25-year lifespan and protects critical aircraft data with FIPS 140-2 and advanced encryption and information security options.
Mercury predecessor Physical Optics developed an Automatic Real-Time, Reconfigurable interface Generalization Hardware (ARRGH) multiprotocol data recorder and data storage system as part of the Automatic Real-Time, Reconfigurable Interface Generalization Hardware Multiprotocol Data Recorder project. Mercury acquired Physical Optics in late 2020.
Removable memory unit
The phase-one ARRGH design is based on integrating hybrid transcoding hardware, RAID-based mass storage, and intelligent transcoding heuristic software, Navy officials say.
This 40-Watt, 11-pound design offers seamless on-the-fly rerouting and data translation of input signals to and from the data recorder irrespective of interfaces involved.
A plug-and-play self-sealing environmentally protected removable memory unit (RMU) enables rapid upgrades to avert obsolescence by capitalizing on commercial solid-state memories. The prototype includes shell adapters to ensure form-factor compliance with a variety of current data recorders, including the RM-6000f on F/A-18.
The ARRGH provides one terabyte of removable memory, sustained write speeds of 550 megabits per second (2700 megabits per second burst) and has a built-in self-test.
The second phase of the ARRGH project produced a ground-tested prototype and a flight-test-ready prototype, as well as defined a platform integration roadmap, got started on device certification.
On this order, Mercury will do the work in Torrance, Calif., and should be finished by July 2027. For more information contact Mercury Systems online at www.mrcy.com/products/data-storage-and-transfer, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
